I Don't Think the Children Could Forgive You

by LizzyLovesPink

Shinoa's used to getting stuck with work Guren doesn't want to do, but nothing could prepare her for when he comes across two young boys all alone in the wastes. With only the reassurance that they're 'special', Shinoa is made to be a full-time caregiver of the boys, who are both broken and isolated in their own way. Main ship is YuuxShinoa, hints of Yoinoa and Kiminoa.

"If you come with me and pledge your life and loyalty to me, I'll take you to a better place," The stranger offered, holding his hand out. Two women stood behind him, wearing formal clothes. He didn't recognize where their outfits were from, but they looked important. And important people could help him, right? He had lost track of how much time he had been on his own. He felt sick all of the time and hungry a lot of the others. He was exhausted and just wanted a sense of security, of safety. He had the feeling he shouldn't trust these people, they were adults, after all, but the promise of safety was just too strong to turn down. He teared up and flung himself at the woman with orangish hair, holding her tightly and crying. She gasped in surprise, but gently patted his head.

"I take that as a yes," The woman with black hair commented, and the man sighed.

"One down, four to go," He said to himself, and the four went back to the barracks, the woman with orange hair gently carrying the brown-haired boy and trying to soothe him.

##############

Shinoa had been woken up in the middle of the night by someone screaming. It wasn't too uncommon of an occurrence nowadays, but that didn't mean it didn't startle her out of her sleep. She knew instantly who it was and slipped on a pair of slippers, dashing down the hallway until she found the bedroom of the little boy Guren had found wandering the wastes by himself just a few weeks ago. He said his name was Yoichi Saotome, but didn't seem very interested in him aside from giving him his own room. Shinoa wondered why he was rescued, but when she asked, all Guren told her was that he was special and nothing else.

"You had another nightmare again, didn't you?" He was asking Yoichi as Shinoa silently peeked her head in the open doorway. Yoichi nodded in embarrassment, making Guren sigh. "Honestly..." He walked over to the bed and gently placed his hand on Yoichi's head, which made him stiffen slightly. "Just go back to sleep. Try to think of happy thoughts or something,"

Shinoa frowned slightly, since there was something off about Yoichi's body language. She knew there was something else wrong.

Just as Guren was about to leave, Yoichi pulled on his sleeve slightly, making him look over at him. He used his own hand to clutch his blankets. "What is it?" He followed Yoichi's gaze until he noticed the wet spot on the bed, making him sigh. "I don't want to deal with this..." He then noticed Shinoa watching them and she tried to run off, but he was faster and grabbed her hand. "You're a curious little bird this night, aren't you? Then you can help me with him," He directed, pushing Shinoa over to the bed.

She nodded and walked over to Yoichi, smiling and holding out her hand to him. "You wet your bed!" She teased lightly. "Let's take your sheets off and then we can take a bubble bath together!"

Yoichi's eyes widened slightly, intimidated by her niceness, but he still nodded and scooted off the bed, watching as Shinoa started to pull the sheets off. He tried to help was well, pushing the pillows off and lifting up some of the more stubborn corners of the sheet.

After the bed was stripped, Shinoa gave them to Mito, making Yoichi blush heavily. "Oh, don't worry, we can trust her! She's one of Guren's friends! Right? You won't tell anyone, right?" She looked at Mito, who nodded, her flaming red pigtails bobbing.

"He's still really young, anyway. Bedwetting is common for his age group," She shrugged, helping the two run a bath before leaving.

"See? There's bubbles in it!" Shinoa said happily, pulling off her nightgown and jumping right in. Yoichi stood there nervously, but eventually made up his mind as he slowly undressed himself and got into the bath as well, wincing as Shinoa tried to splash him. She frowned and instead started making a huge pile of bubbles, placing them all on top of her head to make it look like she had a crown.

That made a small smile form on Yoichi's face, making her return it. "I'm a princess! This is my kingdom!" She started forming another pile of bubbles, stretching them out to make them look like the towers of a castle. Yoichi didn't smile this time, but instead watched her with interest. Shinoa continued playing with the bubbles until Sayuri came into the room and chuckled.

"Time for bed, you two," She directed, gently pulling them out of the tub. She dried Shinoa off first, then Yoichi, placing Yoichi in simple white pajamas and Shinoa in a lacy nightgown that he stared at curiously. "Did you have fun in the bath?"

"Lots of fun!" Shinoa affirmed, nodding. Sayuri gently nudged them back into the bedroom, watching Yoichi climb into bed, looking nervous. He pointed to Shinoa.

"Hm? What about her?" Sayuri asked curiously, and Yoichi pointed to her again, and then to the empty side of the bed. "Oh! You want her to sleep with you?" She looked at Shinoa nervously. "I'm not sure about that-"

"I don't mind! It'll be just like a sleepover!" She yelled, jumping right into the bed and snuggling tight under the fresh blankets. Yoichi looked startled.

"Just please don't keep him up all night. He needs to rest," Sayuri scolded gently, turning off the light and leaving the room. Shinoa felt Yoichi settle close to her in the dark, snuggling really close to her. She gently ran her hand through his hair, thinking it would calm him down.

"Do you like fairytales? I do. Like ones about princesses! I'll tell you one," She offered, hearing him start to suck on his thumb. She continued running her hand through his hair. "Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess in a big castle..."

#############

The next morning, the two of them were woken up for breakfast by Shigure, who also dressed Shinoa in a lacy white ensemble with a matching bow in her hair and Yoichi in a simple white shirt, black pants, and brown boots. "Where's Lieutenant Colonel?" Shinoa instantly asked as Shigure led them to the dining room.

"He went out today with Sayuri-chan. He didn't say why, but he said he'll be back in time for dinner," Shigure answered softly.

Shinoa knew what he was out doing. Looking for more 'special' children like Yoichi. Though she had yet to see anything that made him special other than his cuteness. Shigure led them into the dining room and helped them sit down, bringing out a meager breakfast of eggs and bacon with strawberry milk. The remainder of Guren's squad sat down with them, eating and talking with each other.

Shinoa started eating as well, wondering what was planned for her to do that day. She glanced over at Yoichi every so often, who was very slowly picking his way through the food.

"Good news, Guren-sama hasn't planned anything for you two today, so you can have fun!" Mito smiled happily. "You could play some games!"

"I think we still have some board games left, and if not, we at least have chess. And if not that, well you're kids. You can just run around!" Shinya laughed.

"I think chess would be fun!" Shinoa nodded in agreement, finishing up the last of her food. "But I don't think Yoichi-san would be very good at it yet," Yoichi blushed slightly when hearing his name, but didn't say anything else.

After they finished eating, Goshi and Mito left to go check on the army while Shinya and Shigure remained in the house to keep an eye on things, Shigure watching the children specifically. She sat on the couch and read a book while Shinoa rummaged through the closet, finding an old chess board. She laid it down on the floor and started setting it up. "I'll be white,"

Yoichi just nodded, making no move to set up his own pieces. He looked like he had never seen a chess board before.

"Don't talk much, does he?" Shinya teased, walking into the room.

"Guren said his older sister was killed by a vampire right in front of him. Who knows how long he had to be with the body? Wouldn't you be scared too?" Shinoa stated, forgetting Yoichi was still in the room with her. He instantly teared up and started to cry, making Shinoa gasp. "Oh no!"

"Ah, if only Sayuri-chan were here. She's good at stuff like this," Shinya stated. Shinoa walked over to Yoichi and hugged him tightly, rubbing his back.

"It's okay, you're okay..." She whispered, feeling him tremble in her arms.

Yoichi continued to cry and shake violently, making Shinoa change her approach and gently pat his head and run her fingers though his hair. That seemed to work, as despite still crying, he slowly stopped shaking, blinking at Shinoa.

"I guess you two aren't going to be playing chess anymore," Shigure assumed, starting to kneel down on the floor. "But we can't let it go to waste..." She looked up at Shinya. "Care for a game?"

"Why not?" He shrugged and laid down on the floor, picking white.

After Shinoa calmed Yoichi down, she continued to hold him tightly in her arms, watching the two play a silent yet competitive game of chess. She could feel Yoichi's tight grip on her dress and she was afraid of unlatching him and making him cry again. His breathing had become softer, and she finally risked a glance down to see that he had fallen asleep, likely from her warmth. She smiled lightly at how cute his sleeping face was, and then scolded herself.

She was just taking care of him for Guren. Once he became of age, he'd be assigned to a squad in the army and she'd likely never see him again. If Guren ever found any other 'special' children, the same would happen to them. The last thing she needed to do was get attached to any.

##########

The next few weeks passed by fairly smoothly, considering. Guren was often away for many hours at a time, and Yoichi, despite smiling more, was still unwilling to open up to anyone, not even Shinoa. On one particular day after breakfast, Shinoa was surprised to find Guren in the living room. "Lieutenant Colonel! What is it?"

"I'm going to put Yoichi through some training sessions. After all, he's not here for fun, he's here to serve me in the army when he gets older. And the sooner he learns how to fight, the better," He explained, looking at Yoichi when he walked into the room.

"He's still really little! He might cry," Shinoa warned, making Guren shrug.

"He'll learn to get used to it," He took Yoichi's hand and led him outside to a training area, which wasn't being used due to the early hour. Shinoa followed after them, standing a safe distance away. Yoichi looked confused about the whole thing, especially when Guren tossed him a wooden sword. "We always start out training with swords. If you prove to be proficient in it, then you'll get a better one when you join the army,"

"And if you're bad, we'll give you another weapon!" Shinoa called out, trying to give Yoichi some confidence. He held the sword awkwardly in his hands, biting his lip.

"Are you ready for me? Here I come!" Guren announced, running at Yoichi with his own sword. The brunette gasped loudly and simply fell to his knees, trembling and holding his sword out in front of himself. Guren stopped charging at him, sighing. "You didn't even try,"

"He's still little,~" Shinoa chimed in from the sidelines. Guren ignored her and helped Yoichi to his feet.

"Come on, give it another try. You have to get into shape," He scolded, helping Yoichi adjust his stance. "Stand like that and you'll have a better chance of hitting me," He walked to his original position and held his sword out, running at Yoichi again, who just yelped and placed his sword in front of him like a shield, closing his eyes. Guren easily knocked the sword out of his hands and pushed him down to the ground, making him cry.

Shinoa hurried over to check on him while Guren sighed. "He's far too soft. I can't believe he has a history like that and yet no ill will,"

"Some people are just soft by nature, Lieutenant Colonel," Shinoa scolded, helping Yoichi to his feet again, and like usual, he tightly clung onto her in a hug.

"You can't be soft in a place like this. If he's like this even as a teenager, he will get eaten right up. And if not, then his teammates will get killed by a vampire all because he couldn't kill it," He continued, making Yoichi cry harder.

"Stop it," She scolded, taking Yoichi's hand. "Come on, let's go back to my room," She said softly, tugging Yoichi along and walking him to her bedroom, which was purple and pink. She walked right inside while Yoichi lingered in the doorway, wiping away his tears. "This is my bedroom! Ta-da!" She spun around and posed in the middle. "What should we do together?"

After wiping away his tears, Yoichi looked around the room, nervous about being in another girl's room. She wasn't his sister or anything, so it wasn't really okay, was it? He noticed a bunch of stuffed animals sitting at a table like they were having a tea party, and then a large white dollhouse and pointed to that.

"The dollhouse? Perfect! It's one of my favourite things to play with too!" Shinoa clasped her hands together in approval, pulling Yoichi over and giving him the little boy doll. "This is my doll. Her name is Mii-chan, after one of my best friends!" She explained, making the blonde doll dance around. "Wait until you meet Mii-chan. She's bossy but really nice once you get to know her,"

Yoichi just nodded, unsure of what to say to that. He made his own doll wiggle around in the house, really shy.

"Maybe one day Lieutenant Colonel will find all of those 'special' kids, and we can all play with my dollhouse like this, together. Wouldn't that be fun?" Shinoa asked herself softly. "If we join the army, I'd...like us all to be in the same squad. I'd like you and me to be together, at least," She looked at Yoichi, who looked startled and nodded very slowly. She smiled happily at him. "I think we'd make a great team fighting vampires! You can be like a brave prince from a fairytale!"

"Lunch," Makoto knocked gently on the door to inform them, and Shinoa nodded and put the dolls away.

"Come on, Yoichi-san, let's go eat!" She said happily, pulling him out of her room.

################

A few nights later, Shinoa snuck around Guren's house again, not being able to sleep and finding his subordinates living far more interesting lives anyway, so she was currently on the search for one of them to spy on. As she walked, she noticed Yoichi's door was wide open again and she curiously peeked inside to see what was going on.

"I know you're still upset that you lost your sister. Who wouldn't be? I've lost someone very important to me too. But you can't just sit around all day, moping about it. You're going to have to be strong, both for yourself and your future friends. You couldn't do anything back then, but instead of being upset about it, do something now. You can do something now, so take the chance to better yourself from the experience instead of crying about it at every turn," Guren explained, looking out the window. Shinoa assumed Yoichi had had another nightmare again. He turned and noticed Shinoa there, sighing. He took a last look at Yoichi before leaving. "He wet the bed again. You can deal with that," He loudly announced to Shinoa, making her nod and hurry back over to the bed.

Yoichi climbed out and helped her take the sheets off, looking really embarrassed. She frowned slightly and decided against calling for Mito this time, instead carrying the sheets down to the laundry-room herself. "You're still wetting the bed?" She asked curiously. She then smiled at him. "Don't worry about it. You know, I sometimes wet the bed still. I have bad nightmares," She explained, making Yoichi blink in surprise, then smile very slowly. Shinoa placed the wet sheets in the washing machine and went back upstairs, finding another bubble bath prepared for them.

"But I'm sure you'll grow out of it!" She added as she gently splashed him with bubbles, making him smile more. Sayuri came in a few minutes later and got them dressed in new pajamas, turning the light off once Shinoa was comfortably lying in bed next to Yoichi. He snuggled closer to him and she ran her fingers through his hair, telling him another fairytale about a princess with skin as white as snow.

When she finished, she thought he had fallen asleep and laid herself down to fall asleep, only to feel Yoichi tighten his grip on her nightgown.

"Big Sister...I love you..." He mumbled sleepily, smiling at Shinoa. "You're just like...my big sister..."

Shinoa's eyes widened in surprise, but she hid it easily and patted his head. "That's good to hear," She said quietly.

##############

"Come with me and I'll give you everything you want. All you have to do is pledge your life and loyalty to me," The man with black hair said, extending a hand to him. A hand he'd have trouble taking, for both of them were currently holding onto his sister, who was riding on his back, asleep. He often carried her either on his back or in his arms, and if he came across any carts, wagons, or even better, cars, he would use those to carry her in, but they were few and hard to find. So he had to make do with what he had.

"Is that your sister?" A woman with orange hair asked in a curious tone, motioning to Mirai. "She...doesn't look very good,"

"We'll be able to take care of her if you come with us," The man added, and Kimizuki bit his lip as he thought about it. He wasn't about to trust a group of adults, yet...

He couldn't just pass up a possible chance to get his sister help. Even if they weren't able to cure her, being in a hospital was far better than carrying her through roughened wastelands. She would feel better if she was lying down constantly. He finally glanced up at the adults and gave a curt nod, and the woman with black hair gently took Mirai from him, cradling her in her arms as they led Kimizuki back to the barracks. His only thought was that he hoped he was right for trusting his gut.

"Three down, two to go,"

############

"Time for training, you two!" Guren announced loudly, pushing both Yoichi and Kimizuki out of their beds. The two were sharing a room since he had no more rooms to spare, though Shinoa felt it was just because he couldn't be bothered to make more room. Ever since he found the pink-haired boy a few days ago, he had been agitated, as if he was missing something but couldn't find it.

"Do we have to?" Yoichi asked shyly, his hair tangled. "We just trained yesterday..."

"You're twelve. Kimizuki is younger than you and he isn't complaining," Guren scolded as Shinoa walked into the room, wearing a lacy white blouse and frilly blue jumper.

"They should at least have breakfast first," She pouted playfully.

"Fine." Guren let the three eat breakfast with his squad, this time being porridge with bananas on top to taste and chocolate milk. After they ate, Guren led them into the training area again, where a few people were practicing, but nobody Shinoa could readily recognize. Guren tossed the wooden swords to Yoichi and Kimizuki. "You know what you have to do. Just try and block my attacks," He charged at Yoichi first, who yelped and dashed off, eventually getting trapped between a narrow wall. He held his sword at arm's length away from his body, waving it around violently when Guren came near him. He finally sighed and knocked the sword out of Yoichi's hands, startling him.

"You're still no better than you were when you first started," He scolded.

"Maybe Yoichi-san's ideal weapon isn't a sword? Maybe he'd be better with something like a bow," Shinoa suggested.

"We always use swords for training though, regardless of what the preferred weapon later on is," Guren shot back, walking over to Kimizuki. "Now you try to block my attack,"

Instead of actually blocking, Kimizuki charged at Guren, swinging his sword and hitting Guren's, trying to disarm him. Guren got the upper-hand fairly easily by kicking his shin, making him fall over.

"And you have the opposite problem. You're too full of rage and can only think in terms of attacking, never anything else," Guren threw his own sword down on the ground. "You two are done for today." He left without saying anything else, and Shinoa helped the two to their feet.

"Why don't we go out shopping?" She asked eagerly.

"And buy what?" Kimizuki stared at her. "There's nothing to buy,"

"Don't be such a spoil-sport! Fine, then let's go find Mii-chan. We can all play together," She walked off and the two followed after her.

"I-I wouldn't mind going shopping, Big Sister," Yoichi said shyly. "I'm a bit jealous you have so many nice clothes and I'm stuck in the same white shirt and black pants every day,"

"I think they burned my clothes because I came from a quarantine zone." Kimizuki sad simply with a shrug. "I'm never getting those back."

"Mii-chan might like shopping too! Let's find her," Shinoa looked around the military base first, soon finding Mitsuba sitting in the shade and playing with her pigtails. She had a grey and green school uniform on. "Mii-chan!" Shinoa greeted happily, pulling her into a giant hug that made her fall over.

"Shinoa-san! Get off me," She pushed Shinoa off and stood up, brushing the dirt off her clothes.

"Long time no see! The boys wanted to go shopping, want to come with us?" She grinned.

"I just came back from shopping with my big sister. See my hair? I got it professionally done," She pointed to her pigtails, which were very elegantly tied into small knots.

"It looks so pretty!" Shinoa said in approval.

"The four of us could just do something here..." Yoichi suggested shyly.

"I'd rather not...I have lots of homework to do," Mitsuba started to decline, but Shinoa grabbed her arm and pulled her along, dragging her into her bedroom. The boys had no choice but to follow.

Once inside, Shinoa threw the stuffed animals off their chairs and sat down in one instead. "Let's have a tea party!"

"We're far too old to do stuff like that-" Mitsuba started, only to get cut off by Yoichi gasping in excitement and sitting in the chair across from Shinoa, fidgeting slightly from how small it was. Mitsuba sighed and sat down in the third chair. "I hope nobody sees me like this..."

"It is such a lovely day for a spot of tea, would you not agree?" Shinoa asked in a fake haughty accent to Yoichi, picking up the plastic teapot. "Would you like a cup?"

"I would oh so very much love a cup, Madam Hiragi!" He nodded, holding out his cup. Shinoa made fake pouring noises as the teapot was empty. She did the same for Mitsuba's cup. "Now I, Lord Saotome, and Lady Sangu all have their tea! Oh, but we're missing a guest! Dearie me!" She glanced over at Kimizuki. "Oh, Lord Kimizuki, would you grace my humble party with your presence?"

"No. I should go check on my sister," Kimizuki responded with a huff, leaving the room and slamming the door shut. Makoto saw him in the hallway and tried to speak with him, but he just ignored him as he stormed off. The three still in the room stared at the door in shared stunned silence.

Finally, Shinoa set down her teapot and stood up. "I'll go check on him," She stated, leaving the room as well. She knew where the infirmary was and hurried there, asking one of the nurses where Mirai's room was.

"Down that hallway and the third door on your right," She explained, and Shinoa nodded.

"Thank you!" She rushed off, throwing open the door. Her eyes widened at the sight.

Mirai was lying in bed, sleeping fairly peacefully, despite her bed being littered in anti-demon spells and a huge amount of chains wrapped around her body. Kimizuki was kneeling next to the bed, crying really heavily. Nobody else was in the room and Shinoa was positive he hadn't even heard her enter the room over his own tears.

"I'm going to join the army when I get older. I'm going to make money to pay for better care for you. I swear that to you, Mirai. I won't let you die," He whispered, likely to himself as Shinoa doubted his sister could even hear him. "I don't need friends. All I need is to be the best of the best. They'll let me join and then I can care for you better,"

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave," A nurse scolded Shinoa, who simply nodded.

"I was already on my way," She stated, slipping away silently. She needed time to process what she had just seen. She knew Guren wouldn't let someone with a destructive attitude into the army. If they weren't able to work with their team, they got punished. Shinoa knew she wouldn't have any problems, but it seemed Kimizuki would. And Yoichi had the opposite problem. She wondered what was so 'special' about those two boys, because as far as Shinoa could see, they were cute, but absolutely unsuited for the demanding life of being in the army.

##########

A few nights later, Shinoa spent most of her night awake helping Mitsuba with some homework, and turned in late to her room, walking past the boys' shared room. As usual, the door was open, so to satisfy her curiosity, she peeked in, finding Yoichi nowhere to be seen but Guren sitting in a chair, staring at Kimizuki. The latter seemed troubled by something and Shinoa knew instantly the speech that was to follow.

"I don't feel sorry for you. You refuse to spend time with people, your mind is far too focused on violence, and everytime someone gets close to you, you just push them away. You're going to need friends moving forward in life. You're going to need friends to help you join the army. And if you're good enough, friends need to help you fight vampires. You can't do everything by yourself, so if you actually want to start feeling happy, stop feeling so sorry for yourself and start making some friends. Your sister would want you to," He scolded.

"I don't need friends. They're all going to end up leaving me anyway, so what's the point?" Kimizuki grumbled. "Just leave me alone. I didn't even ask you to come in here,"

"Fine." Guren continued to stare him down for a bit before leaving the room, somehow not noticing Shinoa there for once. Once he was gone, she walked into Kimizuki's room, plopping herself down on his bed.

"Go away. I didn't want him in here and I definitely don't want you," He grumbled at her.

"You look cute without your glasses on," She said instead. "Are you nearsighted? Or farsighted? Can you actually see without them on?"

"I need them to see, not like that's any of your business," He huffed, looking away from her.

"I think you should get some piercings too. They'd look good on a guy like you. Plus I want to befriend someone with piercings. Mii-chan refuses to get hers done no matter how much I ask, so I suppose I'll have to ask you!"

Kimizuki didn't say anything for a while. "Why are you in here? Why do you care about talking to me?" He finally asked.

"Lieutenant Colonel told me you were special! Even though I don't really understand what that means yet, I'm not about to let him down." She flipped her lavender hair.

"He sure doesn't treat us like we're anything special,"

"Oh don't worry, he treats everyone like that!"

Yoichi came back into the bedroom, dressed in his pajamas with a blush on his face. "Big Sister! Why are you in here?"

"I wanted to tell you both a bedtime story to help you sleep better!" Shinoa said, sliding off the bed. Yoichi perked up and snuggled up in bed, while Kimizuki started to protest until Shinoa gave him a look. "I think I've told you all the ones I know...so how about I just make up my own?" She walked into the middle of the room. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess with hair the colour and smell of lilacs. She had fallen in love with a pauper boy, though she was to wed to someone else, and the two continued to meet up in school in spite of the engagement..."

##########

The next morning was fairly quiet, so after breakfast, Shinoa spent her time baking cookies and brownies with Sayuri. A new class of hers had graduated and she wanted to celebrate with sweets.

"I bet they'll love them!" Shinoa said happily, pouring a big amount of chocolate chips into the batter. Sayuri smiled happily.

"I hope so. I don't want them to think just because they're in the army that they can't have fun. I mean, I have fun with my squad all of the time!" She was putting some finishing touches on some brownies that had cooled recently when Kimizuki walked into the room, freezing and staring at the desserts. "Hi there! Would you like to help?" She offered nicely, motioning to the bowl Shinoa was trying to stir. "Guren-sama said you liked baking,"

"Why does he know that about me?" Kimizuki demanded.

"You told him," Sayuri said simply, lying. "Well, you don't have to help us if you don't want to, I just thought you'd like to. And I'd really appreciate another helping hand..."

"No, I'll help. Only because Shinoa-san's stirring is atrocious," He adjusted his glasses and pushed her out of the way, stirring the batter slowly. "See, there are huge chunks of chocolate chips in here. Just what were you trying to do?"

Shinoa laughed. "I wanted them to taste extra sweet and chocolatey!"

"Honestly." Kimizuki shook his head and continued mixing, making Sayuri chuckle.

"Do you like chocolate-chip cookies?" She continued, going back to work on the brownies.

"Y-yes," He admitted quickly. "They were my sister's favourite things to eat, so I learned to bake them just for her. And I ate them a lot as a result too,"

"That's very sweet of you. Your sister is lucky to have someone who cares about her as much as you do,"

"We've been by ourselves for a while now...I kinda had to adjust my way of thinking. It was either that or die," Seemingly satisfied with the batter, he pulled a cookie sheet over and started slowly forming the batter into cookie shapes.

"We should give these to members of Lieutenant Colonel's squad to be the first tasters," Shinoa suggested.

"Oh, they would love that! And we could give some to Yoichi Saotome too," Sayuri added, looking over her handiwork. The brownies had small sprinkles of powdered sugar on top. She then took the filled cookie sheet from Kimizuki and placed it into the oven, setting the timer for twenty minutes. "Now you two go play,"

"I'm not going to play anywhere. I'm going outside," Kimizuki huffed, leaving the room. Shinoa simply shrugged and wandered around, looking for someone to talk to. She was instantly caught in a huge hug from Yoichi, who came up from behind her.

"Yoichi-san!" She smiled.

"Big Sister! Something smells good. What are you making?" He asked curiously, looking over at the kitchen.

"Just some desserts for Sayuri-san's class. You know, you will be in there soon," She teased, making Yoichi's face fall.

"Oh..."

"What's wrong? I thought you were excited about joining the army,"

"I don't really like the idea of all the fighting involved...I don't think I'd be good at something like that," He laughed awkwardly, swaying. "You've known me for a long time now, do I seem like I could kill a vampire?"

Maybe. "No," Shinoa answered. "But it's alright! You can just be an archer or something, protecting your friends from the back!"

"An important day is coming up soon!" He changed the subject. "Can you figure out what it is?"

"You and Kimizuki-san's birthdays, of course! I'd never forget something so important," She waved her hand dismissively. "I bet Lieutenant Colonel has a big party planned for you two, just like every other year. And Mii-chan will be there too!"

Yoichi blushed. "I can't wait! I hope the cake is chocolate this year!"

"We'll just have to see," Shinoa waved him away and went back up to her room, making sure nobody was in there before closing her door and sitting down at her desk. She glanced out her window, watching light grey clouds swirl around in the sky. She wondered if that meant it would rain soon. One thing she missed about the wintertime was snow. The few times it had snowed, it wasn't for very long and didn't stick. She was sad any future children wouldn't be able to experience how much fun it was to play in the snow.

She finally took out a pink diary shaped like a butterfly and took out a purple pen, flipping open to a random page but just staring at it for a long time, not writing anything. Eventually, she just wrote down about what she had did that morning, as well as wondering when her supposed 'true love' would come. Despite how much time she spent with Kimizuki and Yoichi, she didn't feel anything resembling love. Was it just her? Or were they truly not the ones?

She wanted to find that person soon. She was getting older day by day, and she was promised she'd have met them by this point. Was she lied to? She randomly scribbled out the final thing she wrote and closed her journal, hiding it in her desk drawer again before leaving her room.

She went back downstairs and saw Sayuri wrapping the cookies and brownies up in special little bags tied with violet ribbons. Shinoa eagerly started to help. "Let's bring the boys with us to give out the cookies. It would be good for them to get out! They could see the school too," She suggested nicely, and Sayuri beamed.

"That's a wonderful idea!" She called the two downstairs, and Yoichi bounced into the kitchen a few seconds later, followed by Kimizuki. "I'm going to give these out to my class, would you two like to come with me? You would get out of the house and see my class! It's a win-win situation!"

"I'd love to, Sayuri-san!" Yoichi smiled back, while Kimizuki rolled his eyes.

"If I have to," He responded. Sayuri smiled and picked up the packet of brownies while handing Shinoa the cookies.

"Then let's get going!" She hung up her apron and put her military jacket on, which was green with golden buttons. The boys stared at it in fascination. "We're leaving!" She announced to the remainder of the house, walking outside. "The school isn't too far away, so we won't be walking for long," She said, walking slowly so the children could keep up.

"I bet it's really big! I'm nervous about going there," Yoichi pouted to himself.

"It's a necessary step in my enrollment in the army," Kimizuki stated.

"Oh, that's right! Later today, Lieutenant Colonel is going to test you two to see if you qualify to join the army!" Shinoa teased.

"And what does that entail, exactly?"

"I can't tell you, silly! It's a secret! But I do know there's a written part, and a physical part, and you have to pass both to be considered,"

"We're here!" Sayuri announced, walking up the steps to a large school. Several students were wearing uniforms that resembled Mitsuba's, all sitting on some benches in a shady area. "They're my class," She explained, walking over to them with a big smile on her face. "Hello! I just wanted to congratulate you all for passing your exams with flying colours! I hope you look forward to your new lives as members of the army! Look, to celebrate, I brought cookies and brownies!" She took the cookies from Shinoa.

The students sprung to life, all crowding around Sayuri and asking for extras. She smiled nervously and managed to push the crowd of students back, asking politely for them to form a line and she would hand them one treat as requested.

Soon everyone had gotten what they wanted and stood around eating and talking. Sayuri closed the bags, happy there was still some left-over. She offered some to the children, and all three picked a cookie.

"Who are they?" A girl asked in a curious tone, motioning to them with her brownie.

"Guren-sama's wards! The two boys are, anyway. He rescued them and is training them how to fight," Sayuri explained cheerfully. "Isn't he such a nice person?"

"Them? Joining the army? Yeah right," A boy laughed meanly. "They look far too weak,"

"Appearances are deceiving though. We learned that when we had to get our weapons." Another girl reminded him, though there was barely-hidden disgust in her eyes.

Yoichi felt embarrassed and tried to shrink into himself, hiding behind Shinoa despite being taller than her. Even Kimizuki looked hurt by some of their comments.

"We're getting ready to head out," Sayuri informed the trio, watching her students socialize.

"We can just leave now. We're not doing anything important," Kimizuki grumbled, finishing off his cookie and turning to leave. Yoichi nodded in agreement, putting the remainder of his cookie in his mouth. Sayuri sighed, upset they weren't having any fun, but she obliged and walked off, waving to her students.

When they returned to Guren's apartment, his squad were all in the living room, in the middle of watching Mito and Goshi play a surprisingly heated match of chess. Makoto was in the living room as well, scrubbing the floor. Sayuri walked in, smiling.

"Hi! I have sweets left over from my class, does anyone want any?" She asked nicely, and Shinya nodded and took two brownies.

"Oh, they graduated? That was surprisingly fast. I feel like you just started teaching them," Goshi mused.

"They were exceptionally bright and talented. But right now, I have to get these two ready for Guren-sama's exam," She left the bags on the coffee table and leading them to Guren's office, knocking on the door. "Guren-sama? They're ready for the exam," She called, and it was silent for a few seconds before Guren slowly opened the door.

"They're doing the written portion first, correct?" He asked, and Sayuri nodded, ushering the two in. Kimizuki and Yoichi were led to a small area with a few desks, and they were sat several seats away from each other. Two male soldiers were in the room and handed the boys their tests, which were fairly thick.

"You will have two hours to complete your exam. Failure to do so will result in an automatic failure. You will not even be allowed to complete the physical portion. If you need to take a break, raise your hand silently and one of these men will assist you. Do you not make any noise aside from that. You may begin," Guren recited, going back over to his desk to study paperwork. Sayuri stood to the left of one of the soldiers, while Shinoa stood to the other soldier's right. She was even sure if she was allowed to be there, but Guren hadn't ordered her out yet, and she felt like watching them be tested would be fascinating.

She had never seen a military aptitude test taken before, but she had heard that they tested you on every area the schoolwork from school did, but was more complex. Most people were able to finish in the time allowed, so she knew they could too. And the physical exam was just joining a mock squad and following orders to kill a Horseman of John. It didn't matter if one failed the physical exam; that could always be retaken. It was failure of the written portion that sealed your fate. A few people had failed it in the past, and Shinoa had never found out what had happened to them.

Kimizuki looked determined as he worked, but Yoichi just looked nervous, almost as if he was about to pass out. Shinoa frowned, not wanting that to happen. Sure, he didn't feel very strongly about joining the army, but surely he could ace a test, right? She nervously chewed on her thumbnail as she watched.

It was silent in the room for the next forty-five minutes, nobody talking or making any sort of movement. She glanced back at Guren, who looked like he had fallen asleep in his chair. Figured. At least Sayuri was of high enough authority that she could pass or fail if needed. Yoichi looked even more nervous, squirming around in his seat. He finally raised his hand shyly, blushing.

The male attendant next to Sayuri nodded and walked over to Yoichi, first eyeing his test to see if he was done or not. "What is it, Saotome-san?" He asked quietly.

"I-I have to use the bathroom..." He blushed heavily. "I-I didn't want to go in the middle of this but I literally can't hold it any more..."

"Come with me then," The soldier headed towards the door, and Yoichi jumped out of his seat and hurried after him.

While he was gone, Kimizuki closed his test booklet and raised his hand, making the other soldier walk over. "Finished?" He asked, clearly impressed. Kimizuki nodded.

"Am I still allowed to take a break? I'd like to get some water and also use the bathroom," He whispered, and the soldier nodded and led Kimizuki out the door. Yoichi came back a few minutes later, looking a lot happier. He sat down at his desk and continued taking his test.

When Kimizuki returned, the soldier picked up his test and handed it to Guren, seemingly unaware he was asleep. Shinoa smirked. "Lieutenant Colonel! You have something!" She shouted, making him wake up with a start. He turned around to yell at her, only to see the confused soldier still holding out the test.

"Right," He said simply, taking it from him and waving him away. As he was reading through it, Yoichi's soldier handed him his own. "You two, go get suited up for the physical exam. Sayuri will lead you there. Afterwards, I will tell you the results,"

"Whatever," Kimizuki stretched and followed Sayuri out of the room, while Yoichi blushed and followed behind Shinoa. Sayuri led them to a small changing room where a few soldiers were standing outside of, adjusting their hats or gloves.

"You'll get fitted into a temporary uniform for this portion. If you do good, maybe it'll become your official uniform!" She said happily, ushering Kimizuki and Yoichi into one of the rooms. Shinoa peeked inside to see how they were doing, giggling when several female soldiers fussed over how cute they were.

"I love seeing younger children in here! They're always so much fun to dress!" A woman with green hair cooed, starting to take Kimizuki's measurements. "Hold still for me, won't you?"

"They often giggle because the measurements tickle," A blonde woman nodded, a baby being on her back in a separate carrier. Yoichi stared at the infant in fascination. The woman caught him staring and smiled. "This is Saeko. Isn't she adorable? She's my pride and joy. And her father is still in her life,"

Yoichi blinked, having no idea what to make of that. It seemed dangerous to have a baby so close in a world like this, but he didn't really want to make the woman feel bad.

Soon their measurements were taken and they were outfitted in dark green uniforms, complete with the gloves, cape, and hat.

"So adorable!" The blonde woman exclaimed as she looked them over, her daughter cooing in agreement.

"I think the person who had that uniform last got killed by a vampire," A dark-haired man said in curiosity, tilting his head as he stared at Yoichi's. "It took forever to wash the blood out,"

Yoichi instantly paled and swallowed in a sick way, feeling even more nervous. Guren arrived and gave the two black swords, slightly more advanced than what they used in training. "Remember, you're just killing a Four Horseman of John. By the time they reach this part of the city, they are heavily weakened by magic and you should be able to take them out in a hit or two,"

Shinoa followed them outside, tapping her lips in thought.

"You're on that squad," Guren continued, pointing to Kimizuki. He nudged him over to a squad made up of four girls, all taking battle stances. "And you're over there," He nudged Yoichi over to a group of four guys, all talking with each other. "You'll see a Four Horseman of John shortly. And you'll know what they look like, trust me. If you spent as much time in the wastes as you did,"

Kimizuki nodded in understanding and took a fighting stance. "None of you get in my way, understand? This is all just for a test," He directed his teammates, who stared at him in annoyance.

"Here they come!" Guren announced, pushing Shinoa into the building so she wouldn't get hurt. Luckily, there was a large window and she pressed up against it, watching the fighting take place.

"Finally!" Kimizuki smirked and charged at the creature, jumping into the air and slashing at its neck. A small cut appeared there, but nothing major happened.

"Save your fancy stunts for later," A girl with curly blonde hair huffed, pulling out her bow and firing several arrows at the Four Horseman of John, sticking in its chest and making it bleed.

"There's not much you can do with a creature that big and a sword," He retorted. Noticing the creature was weaker, he took a running start at it and threw his sword, lodging it in its chest. The creature let out a cry in agony, falling to the ground with blood pooling out from under it.

"It's dead!" A girl with long red hair announced to Guren, who nodded. He then focused on Yoichi's squad, who were doing a good job of attacking the creature to weaken it-all of them aside from Yoichi.

"You need to focus! Help your teammates and try to fight the creature!" Guren scolded, making Yoichi blush heavily. He tightly gripped his sword, trembling in fear. He knew he couldn't kill it, he just knew he couldn't.

"Saotome-san! You have to help us!" A member of his squad directed, finally knocking the creature down to its feet. Yoichi swallowed and tightened his grip on the sword even more.

"Come on! Just stab it in the heart! It's immobile, it's not going to hurt you!" Another member yelled. "What are you waiting for?"

Yoichi bit his lip and finally ran at the creature, closing his eyes and stabbing the heart of the creature. He felt the heart still beating, so he thrust his sword in even farther, feeling his hands get covered in something warm and sticky. He finally dared to open his eyes and found his sword was completely engulfed by the creature's chest cavity. Another member of his squad fired an arrow at it and made the creature erupt, spraying blood on everyone. The blood soaked into Yoichi's uniform and his white gloves had gotten stained with it.

"W-Why is it...sticky...? A-And why is it so w-warm...?" He shuddered in absolute horror, being uncomfortable with blood. "I-It feels like jelly...warm, strawberry jelly..." He laughed before all of the colour drained from his face and he swayed drunkingly, clutching his stomach. He threw up on the ground and fainted, falling down on the ground. His squad members stared at him in concern. A small puddle spread out from under him.

"How strange, I thought he already used the bathroom earlier," Shinoa mused while Guren facepalmed.

"Nice to know at least one of them isn't a failure,"

#######

That night at dinner, Guren briefly attended to give the boys their scores. "Kimizuki, you have aced both the written portion and the physical portion. Congratulations," He announced, making Kimizuki smile slightly.

"I wouldn't have expected anything less,"

Guren then stared at Yoichi, his gaze changing. "You've aced the written portion, but you failed the physical portion due to your inability to work as a team and follow orders. So therefore, you have failed the test,"

"W-What?!" Yoichi asked in disbelief, blushing heavily. He felt like everyone's eyes on him, even though Shinoa could tell they weren't. Guren's squad likely felt sorry for him, if anything. "B-But I did what I was told! I killed it!"

"After you hesitated. You cannot hesitate like that in the actual battlefield. Your teammates would've been dead in three seconds flat if it was an actual fight," Guren stated. "You may think me harsh, but I'm actually saving your life," He then turned and left the room, leaving a silent dinner in his wake.

#########

"Good morning! Wake up, it's your birthdays!" Shinoa announced happily, throwing open their bedroom door. "How lucky your birthdays are so close to each other, am I right?"

"I'm not in the mood," Kimizuki grumbled, hidden under his blankets.

"Can we have oatmeal with ice cream on top for a special breakfast, Big Sister?" Yoichi asked in a sleepy tone, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Maybe, but only if we get up and get dressed right now!" She laughed, her hair up in a fancy bun. She left the two and went into the living room, where Guren's squad were finishing up last-minute preparations.

"We couldn't go as big this year as some other years, but I'm still sure they'll love it!" Goshi winked at Shinoa.

"And the cake is chocolate!" Sayuri added happily, adding candles to the top of a two-layered chocolate cake. Shinoa counted twelve candles for Kimizuki and thirteen for Yoichi.

"They wanted a special birthday breakfast. Oatmeal with ice cream on top," Shinoa smirked.

"Goodness, no. They'll be hurling all over the place if we let them eat that much sugar," Mito huffed. "They're getting omelettes,"

"Where is everyone?" Yoichi asked curiously as he went down the stairs, and Shinoa raced back to the staircase, smiling at the two boys.

"Shigure-san is finishing up your breakfast. Why don't we go eat it?" She said happily, and Yoichi nodded and followed her into the kitchen, where Shigure laid out omelettes for everyone. Yoichi's and Kimizuki's all had extra cheese inside.

Shinoa ate her food quietly, since she had nothing to say for once. She wondered where Guren was, since she hadn't seen him in the living room and he wasn't with his squad now, sitting down to eat. She wondered if he was out looking for more kids, but decided against it since Sayuri and Shigure were both there, and he often took at least one with him.

After everyone finished eating, Sayuri and Shigure covered up the boys' eyes and led them into the living room, uncovering them as everyone shouted: "Happy Birthday!"

"I love it!" Yoichi praised almost instantly. "The cake is chocolate! And everyone is here too!" He hugged Shinoa tightly. "It's an amazing birthday already, Big Sister!"

"Blow out the candles, make a wish!" Shinya directed, lighting the candles. Yoichi nodded and clasped his hands together, then instantly started blowing them out, freaking out when they kept relighting themselves.

"Why won't the flame go away?!" He asked in a worried tone.

"They're forever-burning candles, idiot. They'll never blow out," Kimizuki grumbled, standing far away from the others.

"Whoops..." Yoichi blushed heavily.

"Did you make a good wish?" Sayuri asked politely, cutting the cake into pieces for everyone, ignoring the candles.

"Sayuri, Shigure, come with me at once." Guren announced, suddenly barging into the room and startling everyone. He was dressed in his traveling outfit.

"What's this about?" Shigure asked curiously.

"We have a new lead. I think it's him," He didn't bother whispering, but Shinoa could figure out what he meant.

"Oh, do we have to leave right this second?" Sayuri wondered, her knife still stuck in a wedge of cake.

"Yes, we do. You're not doing anything important," Guren spun around. "Change your clothes quickly, we don't have time to waste,"

"R-Right away!" Sayuri dashed off alongside Shigure, leaving the knife still in the cake. Mito walked back over and continued the job.

"He couldn't have even stayed for our birthday..." Yoichi said to himself quietly, tearing up. "What could be more important than that?"

"I'm not late, am I?" Mitsuba asked, walking in and wearing her school uniform with her hair in a ponytail with with a green ribbon. She looked around the room and sighed in relief. "Good, looks like I didn't miss anything." She tossed two small presents into the tiny stack and got herself a piece of cake, cutting it herself.

"After everyone eats, we can open up the presents! That's what we're all really here for, am I right?" Shinya laughed as Mito handed out the cake slices. Shinoa sat down on the couch and started to eat hers, watching Mitsuba trying to coax Kimizuki into eating a piece and Yoichi practically crying tears into his, evidently too upset to eat. She frowned slightly.

Guren always had to ruin everything, didn't he? At the very least, he could've stayed and eaten cake with them. What made these two any less special than the other one he was going to find?

"Can we open presents now?" Yoichi asked Shinya shyly, his hands trembling. "I-I don't really feel like being here anymore."

"Same here. I have other, more pressing issues to attend to," Kimizuki folded his arms in front of his chest.

"Such bitterness! Alright, we can open presents now," He sat Yoichi and Kimizuki down on the couch, shooing Shinoa off it. He then pulled two presents for each off the stack, motioning for them to unwrap them.

Yoichi unwrapped his first, looking it over when it was out in the open. "Hair ties. From Mito-san?"

"Your hair is kinda long," She said simply. "I just thought they'd keep it out of your face better,"

"I got a cookbook, from Sayuri-san," Kimizuki said with disinterest, tossing it on the floor in front of his feet.

"How about you open my presents then?" Mitsuba demanded, thrusting them into their hands. Yoichi nodded and tore his open, finding a new pair of shoes. "Well, you said you hated how you wore the same clothes all of the time. I don't know your clothing size, but at the very least, you can change your shoes sometimes," She explained quickly, blushing.

"Thank you, Mitsuba-san! I really like them!" He smiled. The shoes were simple white sneakers with blue lines. He placed them on the floor next to his feet.

"A book of fairytales?" Kimizuki looked his over in confusion.

"I thought you could read them to your sister. It's not like I was stuck on a gift idea or anything," She said quickly, blushing even more.

"No, I'm sure she would like them. I'll read some to her tonight,"

"Open mine next!" Shinoa suggested, jumping up and handing them hers. She had chocolate all over her mouth from the cake.

Kimizuki opened hers first, finding another, albiet differnt, book of fairytales.

"For your sister. Or for yourself when you have another nightmare," She laughed, ignoring his death glare.

"That's such an original gift idea, Shinoa-san," Mitsuba mumbled to herself.

Yoichi opened his up next, finding a big stuffed teddy bear. He gasped and hugged it tightly.

"That's to help you sleep at night. You seem like a cuddler, so I got you something you can cuddle with,"

"I love it so much, Big Sister!" Yoichi smiled. "I think your present was the best,"

"There's still a few more," Mito noticed, although really the only one left was a fancy jacket for both boys from Shigure and a board game from Sayuri for Yoichi.

"Did you two have fun? I thought tonight was a lot of fun!" Shinya smiled, getting another slice of cake.

"Guren-san missed the entire thing," Yoichi said quietly. "He didn't get to see us open up our presents,"

"I bet he left on purpose. He doesn't want to waste his time with us. We're not what he wants," Kimizuki said bluntly, making everyone in the room give him a dirty look, but he shrugged. "I'm going back to my room." He gathered up all of the presents and left.

"It's not as messy as I thought it'd be," Goshi commented, helping Mito put the cake away. "Though we barely ate anything,"

"Let's save it all for tomorrow. There's so much good stuff!" Shinya suggested happily.

"I agree. Maybe Lieutenant Colonel would like some leftovers," Shinoa stated, watching Yoichi gather up his presents and go to his own room, looking defeated. She pouted to herself slightly, despite knowing there was nothing she could do. She had no idea what went on in Guren's head sometimes.

########

That night, Shinoa headed down to the infirmary again to see Mirai when she heard Guren's distinct voice coming from one of the rooms. Instantly curious, she followed the voice instead and found him, Sayuri, Shigure, and a nurse rushing around trying to help a young boy with black hair, currently lying in bed.

"Who's that?" She asked, walking right over to the bed. "He's cute." Her heart fluttered lightly.

"Shinoa, you can't be in here right now. Please leave." Guren said sternly, and though she stepped back from the bed, she didn't leave the room.

"Is this the reason why you left in the middle of their party? To find him?" She pressed.

"We found this poor thing on the outskirts of town. He was so badly banged-up...I wondered what kinds of horrible things he had seen, what he had endured," Sayuri sighed heavily.

"Yes, this is him. Now please give me room to work," Guren scolded, and Shinoa walked over to the door. "Shinoa!" He started to yell, and she nodded and left the room, flipping her hair as she went.

She knew she had found her soulmate. Sure, he didn't look like anything special, but she just knew. Her heart knew too.

###########

After breakfast, Guren decided to train Yoichi and Kimizuki again, feeling very strongly about making them wall guards once they started school, or at the very least, Kimizuki. He tossed them their wooden swords and Shinoa stood on the sidelines, watching.

"I don't want any mess-ups today. You two are getting older and you need to start getting more serious about this sort of thing. You promised to work for me if I saved you, and now it's time you show me my rescue wasn't in vain," He stated, pointing his sword at them. Kimizuki nodded and took a fighting stance, while Yoichi just swallowed nervously. "Try to defend your stance!" He directed, running at Kimizuki first.

Kimizuki instantly dived to the right to try and avoid him, trying to swing his sword at Guren to disarm him, only to get caught off-guard by his speed and get hit in the back, knocking him over. "Ten laps for you around the grounds, go,"

"That's too far to run!" Kimizuki protested.

"You're going to need that endurance if you ever hope to be out in the field. Now run,"

Kimizuki grumbled, but very slowly stood up and dashed off, jogging briskly.

Guren charged at Yoichi next, who yelped in surprise and tightened his grip on his sword, closing his eyes and whacking Guren in the side really hard with it. Guren then managed to trip Yoichi up with his sword, making him fall over.

"Dead. Ten laps for you too," He ordered, making Yoichi tremble and stand up, running after Kimizuki.

"How's that boy you rescued last night?" Shinoa asked as she watched them run, crossing her legs.

"He's doing fine. At least physically. He's pretty wrecked mentally, but what was I expecting? He watched his entire group of friends get slaughtered by a vampire noble. They were all in the same orphanage and were trying to escape the vampire city. He's the only survivor," There seemed to be a glimmer of regret in Guren's eyes, but it was there and gone so quickly Shinoa assumed she had imagined it.

"Wow, that's...pretty bad." She blinked without a hint of irony. She couldn't even picture something like that happening to her. She wondered if that was the reason she hadn't seen the boy out and about yet, because he wasn't mentally ready to be around others yet. She could understand that. Yoichi went for a long time before he would talk to people, and Kimizuki was still in a phase of pushing other people away.

"Yeah. I've made him my pet project. Almost all of my attention will be solely on training him. He pledged his life to me and I'm going to take care of him in return,"

"What about them?" She pointed over in Kimizuki and Yoichi's direction, who were still running laps.

"Oh, well you said you like them, right? They can be your full-time pet projects. You can take care of them and get them to loosen up. I'll take care of their training, some of it anyway,"

"Hm." Shinoa simply pouted. She didn't think it was very fair to those two to be treated in such a way when they had been there for longer, but she wasn't going to argue with Guren about it. Maybe he had something else in mind she was unaware of and pressing the issue would ultimately make things worse.

Yoichi stopped running for a few seconds and struggled to catch his breath, finally doubling-over and puking on the ground. Shinoa's eyes widened in amusement and Kimizuki accidentally plowed into him, making the two boys fall down on the ground, Yoichi's front getting covered in vomit.

Guren sighed when he started to cry and walked away. "I'm going to check on Yuichiro. You deal with therm," He waved at Shinoa, making her pout further. She had no idea how to deal with that.

She finally jumped up and clasped her hands together. "You guys did so good in training today! But it's now time for you to take a shower and work on your homework!" She offered her hand to Kimizuki, but he slapped it away and stood up on his own, adjusting his glasses. Yoichi instantly took her hand and stood up, sniffling.

"I think Guren-san is mad at us because we can't fight..." He pouted.

"No, he's not. He just acts that way towards everyone!" Shinoa reassured him. "Besides, don't worry about Lieutenant Colonel for once. Go take a shower and change your clothes," She directed, and the two nodded. She led the two into the barracks and stopped in front of the boys' restroom. "The showers are in there,"

"Why are we taking them in here instead of in Guren-san's house?" Yoichi asked, standing in the doorway.

"I think it'd be quicker!" She grinned. "Besides, if you guys ever join the army, you're going to have take showers in here, with other guys!" She grinned even more.

"O-other people are going to watch us shower?!" Yoichi asked in shock. "I don't think I could do that..."

"They're not actually going to be looking at you," Kimizuki rolled his eyes.

"There's curtains," Shinoa quickly added. After seeing they wouldn't budge, she pushed them into the bathroom. "If you need any help with anything, just yell for me! I'll be right outside this door!"

That made the two blush heavily, but they had no other choice but to go find an empty shower, albeit far away from each other. As they undressed, Shinoa had Shinya hang up some clean clothes for them outside of their respective showers; the clothes looked exactly like what they had on already.

After they finished showering, they went back outside to find Shinoa, running her hands through her hair. She smiled when they approached her. "Do you guys feel better now? You look much better! And smell good too!"

"Thank you!" Yoichi beamed. "I feel bad for the people who have to clean up the vomit though,"

"I'm sure they've cleaned up far worse," Kimizuki shrugged.

"Like I said, I'll help you both with your homework!" Shinoa jumped up. "So let's get started!" She grabbed their wrists and ran with them back to Guren's apartment, bringing them into the living room. She kneeled down at the coffee table. "Do you have any homework?"

"We always have homework, but I don't understand why you're so adamant about helping us," Kimizuki pulled out several workbooks.

"Usually Guren-san helps us with our homework!" Yoichi explained, pulling out some worksheets.

"He's busy tonight, so he asked me to help you guys instead!" She said quickly, hiding her fists under the table. They grabbed her skirt tightly. "Just work for now and if you come across something you don't know, then you can ask!"

The two nodded and started to do their work quietly. Shinoa snuck a few peeks at what they were working on and saw it was general work issued by the military. It not only tested how good they were on reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also on their teamwork, spellcraft, fighting ability, etc. It wasn't as in-depth as what older grades got, but it still wasn't normal schoolwork. She wondered if the two even remembered what regular coursework from before the apocalypse looked like, or if this was all they remembered.

"Big Sister?" Yoichi asked softly, making Shinoa snap out of her thoughts. "Can you please check my work?"

She nodded and took the worksheet from him, carefully reading through it. Some of it wasn't finished yet, but she ignored those sections. This worksheet was filled with all kinds of reading comprehension questions, most in Japanese with kanji but a few in English. To her surprise, Yoichi had answered all of them correctly.

"You did a really good job! I couldn't spot any incorrect answers. Though you still have some you need to finish," She praised, handing the paper back to him. He blushed.

"Those stumped me," He admitted quietly.

"Let me help you then," She crawled over to Yoichi's spot on the table and leaned in, reading the first question out-loud to him.

"I'm done." Kimizuki loudly announced, slamming shut one of his workbooks. "I'm going to check on my sister," He cleaned up his own area and left, making Shinoa and Yoichi blink.

"But don't you want me to check your work?" She called after him, but he either didn't hear her or was ignoring her, as there was no response. She glared slightly but went back to Yoichi's work, helping him through the questions that he got stuck on. Afterwards, she watched him do his math work before it was time for everyone to go to bed.

"Have a good night's sleep!" She waved to Yoichi before going down to the infirmary, wanting to see the boy again. Guren called him Yuichiro. She looked around for his room in the hallway but was unable to find it, even though she was sure they marked the door with his name. She continued looking around, going up and down the hallways. She found a nurse and stopped her. "Where was the boy Lieutenant Colonel brought here a while ago?" She asked.

"Oh, he made a full physical recovery. He was moved into his own personal room upstairs," The nurse smiled.

"Do you know where that is?" Shinoa pressed, frowning when the nurse shrugged.

"I wasn't told anything else aside from that, sorry." She spun on her heel and walked away, leaving Shinoa there by herself. She huffed slightly and spun around, going back to her own bedroom.

###########

A few days later, Guren was gone for most of the day, most likely with Yuichiro again. Shinya spent most of the day with Shinoa and the boys instead, taking over their training.

"The key to being a good fighter is not you feel about it personally, but what talents you have. So for today, we're going to see what you're skilled in," He explained, and Yoichi seemed visibly relieved that he wouldn't have to fight anything. "How are your skills with the swords?"

"Bad,"

"Decent," Yoichi and Kimizuki answered at the same time.

"Alright, so perhaps your talent lies elsewhere with another weapon," Shinya addressed Yoichi, handing Kimizuki a wooden sword. "I brought a few that we could try out. How about this?" He handed Yoichi a basic bow with a few wooden arrows. "You seem like a sniper kind of guy,"

"I don't think I'd be very good at sniping," Yoichi said shyly, clutching the bow in his hands.

"Don't knock it until you try it," Shinya laughed, setting out some targets. "Since you don't seem very confident, why don't you step back a few feet? Load up your bow and try to shoot one of the targets in the chest," He suggested.

Yoichi nodded and took several steps back, slipping an arrow into the bow, his fingers trembling. He tried to aim the arrow at the target, but his entire body started to tremble from nerves.

"Take a deep breath," Shinya directed, and Yoichi closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the arrow fly from his fingers and make a crack as it hit something. He very slowly opened his eyes and realized the arrow had hit the center of the target, right where he was supposed to. He gasped loudly.

"I did it!" He exclaimed, running over to Shinoa. "Did you see that, Big Sister? I hit the target!"

"You did a very good job," Shinoa praised.

"Now let's try you," Shinya addressed Kimizuki, looking over at him. "You said you already have some skills with a sword, correct? That's good. Most people in the army use swords. It's not a unique weapon but it can be effective. I'm assuming you're fairly fast. If you are, try to disarm this target," He pressed a button on the back of the wooden target and it instantly started to lumber towards Kimizuki. "Remember, you're just disarming it. I'll turn it off if it gets to be too much for you," He called out as Kimizuki sidestepped to avoid the target.

He nodded and jumped into the air, slicing the head off the target, knocking the weapon out of its hands as he landed on the ground. He briefly managed to land on his feet before losing his balance and falling down. Shinya hurriedly turned the target off before it rammed into him.

"Pretty good, but you should save the showman acts when you've gotten to be a better fighter," Shinya teased.

"What now?" Yoichi asked curiously, blinking.

"Well, how about-" He started before getting cut off by Mito rushing over to him in a panic.

"Some vampires got in! You're needed at the walls to hold them off!" She directed, dashing off again.

"You hear that? I'm needed somewhere else," Shinya waved to them and walked off, leaving the three alone.

"I wonder if we'll have to be put on the front lines too?" Shinoa asked herself.

"Vampires are in here?" Yoichi asked in fright. "Aren't they going to eat us?" He trembled.

"You three! Come with me right now!" Sayuri directed, pulling the boys over to her. "Vampires have broken in and you three need to hide," She directed, already running off.

"But why?" Shinoa asked curiously, easily keeping up with Sayuri's pace.

"Vampires love the taste of childrens' blood the most," She said quietly, leading them back into Guren's apartment. Yoichi nearly froze up at that statement, but Kimizuki pushed into him to keep him moving. Sayuri found a closet on the top floor and ushered the children inside, locking herself inside as well.

"How do we know they won't find us in here?" Shinoa questioned.

"We'll just have to hope they don't," Sayuri smiled softly. She sat down on the closet floor and pulled the three children into her arms, holding them close to her. "Just be quiet,"

Yoichi instantly buried his face into Sayuri's chest, his eyes filling up with tears. The whole experience was giving him bad memories of a long-remembered event, Shinoa knew. She was sandwiched between the two boys, and she could feel even Kimizuki was tense next to her, though his facial expression was entirely calm.

The hallway was silent, and Shinoa wondered if Guren's squad were successful in keeping the vampires at the walls. If some did get in, they likely wouldn't bother the house since there was nothing of interest to them. They didn't know they were in there, after all.

Sayuri kept herself quiet, gently rubbing the boys' backs to keep them soothed. She had a headpiece in her ear and Shinoa wondered if Guren was feeding her updates on where the vampires were. She couldn't hear anything from it, so she figured he was just whispering.

"I hate this..." Yoichi said quietly, his voice muffled.

"It won't last forever. Just hold on for a while longer," Sayuri reassured him, bouncing him slightly.

"Sayuri? Is that you? Come in," Her headpiece buzzed to life, and she gasped slightly in surprise and adjusted it.

"Yes, I'm here, Guren-sama. What is it?"

"We've successfully defeated the vampires. No hostages or deaths. A few injuries but that's to be expected. We killed two vampires but the rest managed to escape." He explained, making her nod. "Where are you right now?"

"In a closet in your apartment. I have Shinoa Hiragi, Yoichi Saotome, and Shiho Kimizuki with me. I was hiding with them,"

"Are they alright?"

"A bit mentally-shaken up, but physically, they're fine,"

"Please take them downstairs for dinner. I have something I want to discuss," Guren then turned off his own headset, making Sayuri nod. She gently set down the children and crawled over to the door, standing up and unlocking it.

"Guren-sama says it's time for dinner!" She smiled and opened the door really wide for them.

"Eat? After that? No thank you," Kimizuki shook his head, walking outside. Shinoa followed, and they all looked at Yoichi, still hiding in the closet and trembling.

"He said it's really important that all three of you are there," Sayuri stated. "Don't you want to eat with us?" She addressed Yoichi, making him slowly walk out of the closet, rubbing his eyes.

"I-I...had an accident," He mumbled shamefully, pulling down his shirt.

"Oh no!" Sayuri gasped. "It's alright. It happens to everyone, you know? Go take a quick shower and change. And then you can join us for dinner, alright?" She smiled to reassure him, and he slowly nodded and walked off. She led the other two downstairs.

"What do you think is so important that Guren-san needed everyone to be there?" Kimizuki asked Shinoa, who shrugged.

"Maybe he's going to give us a present!" She suggested, heading downstairs.

Most of Guren's squad was already sitting down at the table, Shigure serving everyone their food. Yoichi showed up a few minutes later, and him and Kimizuki sat across from each other at the end of the table, while Shinoa looked around for a good spot to sit and noticed the boy with black hair sitting close to Guren. Since he had an empty seat next to him, she quickly took that one as Shigure served her.

"Who's he?" Yoichi asked instantly, pointing to the boy. His name was Yuichiro, Shinoa reminded herself. She hoped she would have time to memorize his name.

"The boy I've been taking care of. I wanted him to eat dinner with us," Guren explained. "Say hello to Yuichiro Hyakuya, everyone. He's an annoying hothead,"

"What kind of name is that?" Kimizuki demanded, while Yoichi waved shyly to him. Shinoa waved as well, smiling. He looked to be around the same age as her.

"Why is everyone being so nice to me?" Yuichiro demanded, violently stabbing something on his plate with his fork.

"They just greeted you, darling. They're excited to meet someone around their age!" Sayuri reassured him, smiling. He glared at her.

"Plus Guren-sama has done nothing but talk about him for hours on end, abandoning his other duties to train him," Mito added. "Who wouldn't want to meet this wonder boy?"

"There's nothing interesting about me," He insisted, picking at his food.

"I wanted him to eat with us because of what he did earlier. As you all know, vampires infiltrated our walls. I ordered all of the members of my squad, aside from Sayuri, to help me drive them back outside. Sayuri's job was to protect the children and hide them. She was to hide not only you three, but Yuichiro as well. However, he didn't follow orders and ran away from her, wanting to kill a vampire," He started explaining. "I kept an eye on him, trying to prevent him from doing so with his amount of training, but I got caught up in other things. Much to my surprise, however, he managed to kill a vampire and saved a little girl,"

"He did? How?" Yoichi asked curiously.

"I'm amazed you can kill anything with those stupid wooden swords," Kimizuki scoffed.

"That's really impressive," Shinoa smiled at Yuichiro. "But what does this have to do with him being here?" She asked Guren, looking at him.

"I just wanted to congratulate him in front of everyone. He was rash, but still shows promising talent. I think I might make him a wall-guard," Guren started eating again, giving a pointed glance in Yoichi and Kimizuki's direction.

"Finally! I can do something useful!" Yuichiro cheered, then looked at the two boys. "Are they going to be with me too?"

"Not at first. they're being trained too, but I'll probably have them stationed at different walls,"

"What's wrong with us?" Kimizuki demanded, glaring at Yuichiro.

"You guys just seem like you would slow me down. Notice how you didn't run off to fight vampires. Do you just not care?" He shot back.

"W-we're not very good at fighting them..." Yoichi started trembling. "We would've died...I-I'm glad Sayuri-san saved us,"

"Besides, I don't need people to get in my way when I fight. Regardless of whether they can fight or not," He huffed and threw down his fork. "I'm going to bed," He stormed off.

"He has such a bad temper," Shigure noticed quietly.

"So, this is the kid you keep raving about? Aside from the fact he killed a vampire, I don't see the hype," Goshi stated.

"I'm still trying to get through to him," Guren stated. "He was in an orphanage that got taken over by the vampires. He tried to escape with a small group but one of the higher-ups caught them and killed his entire group. He's the only survivor,"

"Oh..." Yoichi blinked, looking absolutely horrified. "W-why even bother escaping then? Why not just stay there?"

"They would've just killed him and his friends once they were deemed useless," Kimizuki stated.

"Poor Yuichiro-san..." Shinoa said quietly to herself. The group ate dinner in silence until a loud scream from upstairs pierced the air.

"That's my cue. Sounds like he had another nightmare," Guren instantly stood up and walked off. "Just throw my food away,"

"O-okay..." Sayuri nodded, looking at the plate, which still had quite a lot of food on it.

"We're finished eating too!" Yoichi announced, and the three children left the table and also turned in for the night. Shinoa figured none of them would sleep easily after learning what they had.

############

"Congratulations, you get to attend high school! Are you excited?" Shinoa beamed, joining the breakfast table fairly late. She had on a pink camisole with a white blouse and plaid skirt, her ponytail tied with a matching pink bow.

"I-I'm really nervous. And my shoes feel too tight..." Yoichi laughed awkwardly, finishing up his food. "I hope everyone will be nice to me,"

"It's about time. Once I graduate, I'll be put on a squad of my own in the army. And then I won't have to worry about anything else," Kimizuki stated.

"Ah, but you have to graduate first! And that's a long way away!" Shinoa teased.

"Do you think Hyakuya-san will be in our class?" Yoichi asked curiously.

"I think Lieutenant Colonel said he had other plans for him, so for right now at least, he's being kept out of school,"

"Good. I don't think I could handle such a hothead in a strict enviroment," Kimizuki grumbled, pushing his plate away.

"I-I don't think he's a hothead! He's impulsive, but maybe all he needs is a good friend!" Yoichi smiled.

"Ready to go?" Shigure asked them, dressed in her military uniform. "I will be walking you to school today,"

"We're ready!" Yoichi smiled happily. "Goodbye, Big Sister!" He waved eagerly to Shinoa before Shigure opened the door, ushering the two boys outside. Shinoa waved back to them just as eagerly before Shigure left, closing the door.

"I hope they have fun at school," She said to herself, going back upstairs. She checked Yuichiro's room, expecting to find it empty but finding the black-haired boy in there for once. She knocked on the already-open door. "Knock-knock,"

"What do you want?" Yuichiro demanded, slipping on some white gloves.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing!" She stepped inside, noticing he was already wearing a uniform. "Got accepted into the army that quickly? That's doubly-impressive,"

"Tch, I wish. No, Guren made me into a wall-guard. But I still have to wear the uniform," A sword was at his side. "I'm excited. Finally, he's learning what I'm capable of! I don't even have to go to school like the other stupid soldiers!"

"Well I hope that all works out for you," She grinned. "I'm-"

"I have to get going, I'm about to be late!" Yuichiro rushed past her, making her spin slightly. She pouted.

"You were already going to be late..." She stood in the hallway for a while, not having anyone else to talk to. Guren and his squad were out on the field, Yoichi and Kimizuki were in school, and Yuichiro had just left. She was alone. After standing there for a few more minutes, she walked down the stairs and went outside, going to the barracks and asking an officer if Mitsuba was available to hang out.

"You're in luck! She just came back from a mission!" The officer smiled. "I'll go get her," He hurried off into another room, but came back a few minutes later, looking distraught. "P-Perhaps it's best if you leave her be for now, Lady Shinoa. She's not in the best state right now,"

"Well that just gives me of a reason to see her, since I'm her friend and can comfort her!" Shinoa walked past the guard and into the other room, where Mitsuba was sitting on a bench by herself, crying really hard. Her uniform was covered in blood. Shinoa instantly sat down beside her and didn't speak for a while, just letting her get all of her tears out.

"What happened?" She finally asked, making Mitsuba hiccup.

"I-I...my whole squad got killed. I'm the only survivor," She said quietly, bringing up her legs and making the knees rest on her chest. "T-They all died because of me!"

Shinoa just nodded and gestured for her to continue.

"One of my squad members got caught by a monster. I-I was going to save them, I didn't hear my leader tell me we had to retreat...I mean, I did, but at the time, my teammate was more important...the Four Horseman of John was about to strike me next, but my leader stepped in front of me and got stabbed instead..." She took a deep breath, making her body shudder. "I escaped...but there was so much blood...and I did that! I was being reckless..."

Shinoa gently placed her hand on Mitsuba's head.

"I-I don't want to go out onto the field ever again. I-I'll become a teacher at the school. I'm still fairly young but they can make an exception. I don't want that to happen ever again..." She sighed, a flicker of determination in her eyes.

"Lady Mitsuba, your sister wishes to speak with you," Another officer walked in, not even noticing her state.

"C-Can she until wait after I change my clothes?" Mitsuba asked, wiping away her tears. She sat up straight.

"I'm afraid not. She said it's urgent," The officer shook their head, making her sigh.

"If it's that important..." She stood up and swayed, calming herself down and leaving with the officer, some blood dripping off her clothes and making a little trail that followed her out. Shinoa raised an eyebrow at the sight, but ultimately left it alone and left the room after a few minutes herself, mulling over what had happened to Mitsuba.

She felt sorry, genuinely, that such a thing had happened to her friend. She hoped she got her wish and became a teacher. Field work wasn't for everyone and with so many tragic stories, Shinoa wondered who would want to do it above anything else. She certainly wouldn't want to, not even if she was put on the best squad in the whole entire world.

############

"Shinoa, can you please meet me in my office?" Guren asked Shinoa after the boys had left for school one day. She nodded and followed him there, wondering what for. She briefly mused if she had gotten in trouble, though she hadn't done anything recently that would warrant a strict talking-to by Guren.

"What is it?" She asked once they arrived. Instead of answering her, he handed her a grey school uniform with a green flower embroidered onto the chest. "Oh, just what I've always wanted for Christmas!~ How did you know?" She smirked.

"I'm not sending you to school for your own good, Shinoa. I'm sending you because I need you to monitor Yuichiro for me. He disobeyed orders a few days ago and got himself in huge trouble with some of his supervisors. They suspended him from the army until further notice, and I agreed with their choice. I've sent him to school with the promise I'll let him rejoin if he becomes more cooperative."

"Uh-huh," Shinoa replied.

"Make sure he follows orders at the school and makes a friend. Give him this," He handed Shinoa a handwritten note, which she tucked into her school skirt pocket. "You start tomorrow morning. That will give you some time to read up on his files,"

"Uh-huh!" She replied again, watching Guren stand.

"This isn't some joke, Shinoa. I'm counting on you to do this for me," He stared her down.

"Why would I ever let you down, Lieutenant Colonel?" She giggled lightly. "I'll keep an eye on him for you," She promised, and once Guren left, she sat down in his seat and sorted through the papers left on his desk, finding Yuichiro's files. She also found Yoichi's and Kimizuki's files, but those were of less importance to her. She kicked her feet back and placed them on top of the desk, reading up on Yuichiro in preparation for her mission the next day.

################

After breakfast, Shinoa returned to her room and got herself dressed in the school uniform, tying her hair up in its usual style. Guren had given her a bag to use, and she picked it up, going down the stairs and running to catch up with Shigure and the two boys. "Good morning!"

"Why are you going to school with us?" Yoichi asked curiously, eyeing her uniform. He blushed slightly.

"I'm under orders from Lieutenant Colonel to keep an eye on Yuichiro-san. Appreantly, he's a huge troublemaker, but I'm not afraid of him. He can't possibly be that bad," She laughed, flipping her hair. "So I'm going to go to schol with you two!"

"Yay us," Kimizuki replied sarcastically as the three headed up the school's stairs.

"I think he's in Class 4-1," She said, more to herself as she dropped Kimizuki and Yoichi off at their own classes. "Let's eat lunch together, alright?" She smiled, then continued walking until she reached Class 4-1, walking inside and noticing she was early. She had her pick of the seats.

She had no idea where Yuichiro would pick to sit, so she just sat down in a seat near the window, hoping she was correct. Other students started to file in and Shinoa entertained herself by writing random things in her notebook.

Eventually, class got started, and she actually started to listen, flipping through her notebook until she found a clean page and writing down the math forumlas. Figured Yuichiro would have math first period. She continued to write things down, not paying attention to the other students until the teacher started to scold the boy sitting in front of her for not paying attention, and then for yelling at him. After the boy calmed down slightly, Shinoa gently poked his back.

When he turned around, she smiled inwardly. It was Yuichiro, plain as day. Instead of telling him why she was there and causing even more of a scene, she quickly scribbled something down in her notebook and showed it to him, pointing to it.

He grumbled and yelled at her, just making her write more stuff down. Secretly, she was enjoying this. He was a lot to handle, and she wondered if the only reason Guren paid any attention to him at all was because of his tragic past. She thought Guren saw something in him.

He finally agreed and sat back down, grumbling about something. Shinoa put her notebook down and continued writing the math problems, wondering when it would be time for lunch. Though she wasn't assigned to them, she also wondered about Kimizuki and Yoichi. She thought about inviting Yuichiro to eat with them, but quickly decided against it. She already knew how that would turn out.

Class passed fairly quickly afterwards, at least for her, who already knew this stuff by heart. The teacher told everyone to start packing up, which she did, putting her notebook and pencil case in her bag.

"We should all go out to get some ice cream!" Someone near her announced happily, and some other people agreed. After she put everything away, she noticed Yuichiro staring at the group, so she walked over to him.

"'I want to go too!'" She mimicked, grinning. She wouldn't mind going out for ice cream with just Yuichiro, if he agreed. Maybe she could drag Kimizuki and Yoichi into it.

"No way, I'm not going anywhere near them," Yuichiro snapped, staring at her.

"But you remember what Lieutenant Colonel told you," Shinoa pressed, unaffected by his tone. "You have to make at least one friend," She remembered the note in her pocket and handed it to him, giggling when he just crumbled it up after reading it. "He also told me the reason why you are the way you are is because your whole 'family' was killed by a vampire. Right in front of you. So you don't want to get close to anyone because you're afraid of that happening again," She said, softer.

"Just leave me alone," He grumbled, storming out of the room and going to change his shoes. Shinoa simply followed him, a bounce in her step. She watched him unlock his locker, giggling again when he noticed her there. "How long are you going to keep following me around? You don't have to, you know,"

"It's my job! I have to report anything that might extend your suspension. You know, if you're misbehaving," She smirked. Her attention was then directed to someone freaking out and the sound of something hitting the ground. "Yoichi-san?" She said under her breath, surprised to see him actually getting bullied.

"It's such a peaceful day, isn't it? I'm going home," Yuichiro swung his bag over his shoulder and started to walk away, making Shinoa frown. She figured Yuichiro and Yoichi would get along fairly well, and it would make Yuichiro's suspension end shorter if he actually befriended someone. She just hoped he could handle how clingy Yoichi could be. She could handle the bullies perfectly fine herself, but she knew if Yuichiro saved Yoichi, then he'd have a friend, at least a one-sided friend.

"You're seeing something like this happen right in front of you, and you're just going to walk away?" She scolded, hoping that'd get his attention.

"That's not my business," He waved her away.

"You'll never make any friends like this, and then you'll never join your beloved army," She snapped.

Finally, he turned around and walked over to one of the bullies, though she was sure it wasn't because of anything she said.

"So you do care, after all!~" She couldn't help but to smirk. She turned around to watch what would happen. "By the way, I almost forgot to mention! If you hurt a civilian, your suspension will be increased!~" She warned when she saw him preparing to punch one of the bullies. He glared back at her, but she simply shrugged. She just closed her eyes as he got punched in the face.

########

"There's a small store near here. That I do know of. We can pick up the stuff there," Shinoa told the two as they left the school, Yuichiro rubbing his face in annoyance. "I go shopping there sometimes with Mito-san if Lieutenant Colonel requires something late at night. It's a lot of fun!" She led the boys there and handed a basket to Yoichi, and then one to Yuichiro, who took it while glaring at her.

"We're just getting snacks. It won't take very long," He grumbled, leaving the two behind. Shinoa wondered how Kimizuki was doing and sighed slightly when she realized she had no way of keeping tabs on him too. While she was sure he wouldn't do anything rash or reckless, she was still technically in charge of him and knew Guren would be extremely unhappy with her if one of his 'special' children got in trouble. She'd spend the entire night with him to make up for it.

"Let's get some snacks, Big Sister!" Yoichi suggested nicely to Shinoa, who smiled. "I think he's getting the drinks," He nervously held the basket on his arm and headed straight for the snack section, looking up and down the shelves. "So...that's Hyakuya-san, isn't it?" He asked shyly, and she nodded. "I thought you said he wasn't in school,"

"Because he wasn't! But he kept disobeying orders, so Guren enrolled him. He's ordered to make a friend!"

"Oh, right! You told us about it this morning!" He started throwing random things in the basket. "He seems like such a handful..."

"He's nowhere near as bad as Kimizuki-san! I wouldn't want those two to meet each other!" She teased. She then walked closer and frowned at some of Yoichi's selections. "Those aren't very good, put them back,"

"Huh?" He asked in confusion, blushing when Shinoa took one out of the basket. "See the experatation date? And look," She popped the bag open to reveal a lot of the pieces being discoloured. "Let's not get these," She threw them onto the back of the shelf.

"So what are we supposed to get? We can't show up empty-handed!" Yoichi wondered, very slowly putting the rest back.

"We can just get drinks too," Shinoa shrugged and walked over to the next aisle, finding several cans of coffee and putting those into Yoichi's basket. "These shouldn't be spoiled. And we can also get soft drinks."

Yoichi nodded and adjusted the basket on his arm, going over to the cold drink section and filling his basket with those. "There's orange soda! And look, Coke! My favourite!" He beamed, and Shinoa smiled back. Yuichiro walked over to them, still looking annoyed.

"You guys are taking forever. It doesn't take very long to get drinks," He told them.

"Oh? Then why are you here with a bunch and not on your way back to the school?" Shinoa quiped.

"...You have the money," He mumbled sheepishly, making her giggle.

"Wait for Yoichi-san to finish, and then I'll pay for both of you!"

A few minutes later, Yoichi got all of the drinks he needed and the three walked over to the check-out counter, Shinoa paying for their items.

"Thank you! Have a nice day!" The cashier smiled and waved to them, and Yoichi smiled and waved back, struggling to carry the big bag.

They started walking back to the school, Shinoa walking beside Yoichi. She kept wondering how Kimizuki was doing. Guren hadn't called her back for anything, so she assumed he was fine. She really hoped so.

"So, why do you even listen to them and let them boss you around? I mean, yeah, you can't really fight them off, but couldn't you tell someone?" Yuichiro asked Yoichi, who laughed nervously.

"I asked Yamanuka-kun for a favour," He started off, looking down at the bag.

"Who's he?" Yuichiro asked blankly, making Shinoa laugh.

"Such a blockhead,"

He gave her a dirty look, but she just laughed again.

"What could you possibly want from a guy like that?" Yuichiro continued, looking back at Yoichi.

"I...I failed my admission test to join the army. So, I thought he could help me out because he said he could. You know, since he was being considered for it," He blushed lightly.

Shinoa remembered him taking it. Guren wasn't very convinced he would ace it on his first try, and Shinoa agreed. While he might've gotten a decent score, what really sealed his fate was how he acted around his first Horseman of John. Granted, that was a few years ago, but still. The army was picky about who they picked and Guren had been too busy to reevalute him.

"What?! He gets considered and not me?!" Yuichiro shouted in disbelief. "But why?! He gets to kill vampires and I don't?!" He glared at Shinoa, as if she had an answer.

She just shrugged. "Maybe you're not allowed to join because you're still a virgin," She teased.

"You're probably wondering why someone like me would even be interested," Yoichi continued. "I-I want to avenge my sister..." He said quietly, making Yuichiro glance over at him.

"Avenge? Like, revenge?"

He nodded. "Y-Yes...my sister was killed by a vampire. And I just hid there and did nothing...I-I should've tried to save her. I should've tried to fight,"

Yuichiro walked over to him and smacked the back of his head, making him gasp in surprise. "I think you did the right thing. You would've just gotten killed too, and then what? Besides, I don't think your sister would want you to avenge her anyway," He spun around and started to walk away, making Shinoa frown after him. "A spoiled weakling like you would just get in the way of fighting vampires. Like this one kid I remember growing up in Guren's house. Vampires broke in and all he did was hide in a closet,"

Yoichi started to tear up, and Shinoa frowned more. Regardless of what Yuichiro thought, she thought how he phrased all of that to be extremely rude. She knew who he was referring to, and she knew Yoichi knew too. She opened her mouth to scold him, only to nearly be thrown off her feet by a loud explosion. They all glanced over in that direction to see one of the buildings had the top blown off.

"Emergency! This is an emergency message! All students and personnel, please get someplace safe! Vampire has escaped from the labratory and is considered to be very violent! Vampires regain strength by drinking blood. If you see this vampire, please do not approach it and get away instantly! The Moon Demon Company has been called and will be here shortly!" A speaker loudly announced, repeating the message.

Yoichi froze up in fear, and Shinoa turned more serious. She knew she had to get those two to safety, but before she could issue an order, Yuichiro dropped his bag and started to run off.

"I'm going to kill that vampire! This is my chance! If I kill it, then Guren will just have to let me join!" He announced to himself, running off.

"You idiot!" Shinoa managed to yell at him before he was out of sight. "You're going to get yourself hurt!"

"What are we supposed to do?" Yoichi asked, making Shinoa snap back to attention.

"We have to go find Sayuri-san! She'll be able to protect us. Hopefully Kimizuki-san is already with her too!" She directed, grabbing Yoichi's arm and dashing down the stairs with him. He nodded and followed closely behind her. She could tell from his pulse how scared he was, but it wasn't the time to just stop and comfort him. If he wanted to join the army, he'd have to understand that.

She noticed Sayuri with her own class of students, hiding out in a shady spot. Shinoa ran over to her and scanned the faces, sighing in relief when she found Kimizuki's among them. She pushed Yoichi over to her. "Can we please stay with you until the threat is gone?" She asked, out-of-breath.

Sayuri nodded. "Yes! I'll make sure to inform your homeroom teacher you were with me. Please go to the end of the line," She directed, and the two nodded and followed her orders. The other students talked amongst themselves in scared whispers, despite Sayuri telling them several times to hush. Shinoa kept a firm grip on Yoichi's arm, feeling him tremble.

"I-I hope Hyakuya-kun is okay..." He said quietly, making Shinoa wonder about the sudden honorific change. She then smiled, knowing Yoichi probably really liked him. "I-I don't want the vampire to get him..."

"The vampire won't get him. Sayuri-san will protect you. And Guren will arrive shortly with his group," She said softly, starting to run her hand through his hair away, only to have him smack her away.

"N-No...I don't want him to get hurt, while I stood around hiding! I-I don't want to be useless anymore..." He then dashed off, making Shinoa gasp and Sayuri snap her fingers at him.

"Yoichi Saotome! Please get back over here!" She directed, though she made no move to go after him.

"They're both idiots," Shinoa told herself, remaining in the back of the line. She figured Yuichiro could get a few hits in; it was bound to be a weakened vampire, after all, but not Yoichi. She noticed Kimizuki staring at her, so she flipped her hair in response.

"Yoichi-san is going to get himself hurt," He whispered to her.

"I'm sure Lieutenant Colonel will show up before anything really bad happens!" She reassured him. "By the way, how was your day at school?"

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because you're my pet project! If you get hurt, then I get in trouble!"

"I'm fine, obviously. Sayuri-san got my class out before anything really had a chance to happen," He grumbled, looking away.

"Where's this vampire I've been hearing about?" Guren announced, walking onto the scene with several other soldiers. He stared at Shinoa, who simply waved.

"Guren-sama! M-My class is alright, but Yuichiro Hyakuya and Yoichi Saotome are inside, trying t-to fight off the vampire," Sayuri blushed.

"Fighting it off, hm? Then maybe I showed up in the nick of time," He grinned, motioning Shinoa over. "Come with me,"

"Oh, I'm special!~" Shinoa teased, running over to Guren. She remained by his side as him and the soldiers ran over to the school, attracted by the sound of glass breaking. Her eyes widened as she saw the vampire struggling with Yuichiro, looking like it was about to gain the upper-hand.

Guren stabbed the vampire in the chest, making her dissolve into ash. Yuichiro didn't seem too badly-hurt, but he had lots of bruises and cuts on him. He looked at the soldiers in annoyance, and when his eyes lingered on her, she grinned and waved happily to him. Maybe he thought she called the soldiers.

"You saw how I dealt with that vampire, right? So let me join the Moon Demon Army!" Yuichiro protested when Guren started to walk away.

"I told you, you need to make a friend before I'll even consider it. You need to learn how to work in a team," He declined,, making Shinoa laugh.

"You're the one who has trouble working in a team, Lieutenant colonel!" She teased, making him stare at her.

"I don't need friends to kill a vampire!" Yuichiro stated, grumbling. "So cut it with all of that crap!"

"Yay! You're alright! I was so worried that you had gotten eaten or something! But I see that you're alright and that makes me happy!" Yoichi cheered happily, jumping into the air and pulling Yuichiro into a huge hug, crying. She laughed at the sight. That proved to her that Yoichi genuinely cared about Yuichiro, just like she thought he would.

"Who's that?" Guren asked her as Yoichi started to cry further, this time for an ambulance. It seemed his style of affection proved to be too much for poor Yuichiro. She grinned, seeing her chance.

"I think it's a friend of his. Obviously." She smirked more. "So you have to keep your promise and let him join," She wasn't surprised that Guren couldn't recognize Yoichi. At this point in time, she would be amazed if he even remembered why he originally took him in.

"You're kidding me!" Guren exclaimed in annoyance.

"I think he should be taken to the medical ward. He's fainted from his injuries," Shigure announced, kneeling down beside him. She gently nudged Yoichi off of him, who was still a crying mess.

"I'll help," Shinoa offered, helping Shigure pick him up. She followed the woman to the infirmary, Yoichi following behind her. A nurse widened her eyes at his condition and gently took him from Shigure, curtsying and gently lying him in bed.

"Give this to him when he wakes up," Shigure stated, pulling several articles of clothing from her bag and handing them to Shinoa, who nodded. Shigure then left the room, and Yoichi kneeled at Yuichiro's bedside, rubbing his eyes.

"Is he really okay? I-I shouldn't have hugged him so harshly..." He pouted. Shinoa hid the outfits behind her back and went over to the other side of the bed.

"I'm sure he's perfectly fine. Just a bit banged-up. But you know, he's survived so much worse than this. So I know he can make it through, easily." She said, more to herself. She found a chair in the corner of the room and pulled it next to Yoichi, settling herself down in it.

"I-I don't think I want to call you Big Sister anymore..." Yoichi randomly announced after a few minutes. Shinoa looked over at him.

"Hm? Why? You've called me that for as long as you've known me, practically!" She grinned.

"I-It just seems really childish. I-I don't want to be seen like that anymore. And besides, what if someone else hears? It was fun as our own private thing, but I don't want to call you that anymore," He said firmly, sniffling. Shinoa nodded and shrugged.

"Fair enough," She ran her fingers on the clothing, tracing small patterns on the shirts. She then glanced over at Yuichiro, who started tossing around in his sleep and reaching his hand out, as if he were trying to reach someone. He finally opened his eyes, looking as if he was about to say someone's name. Yoichi perked up.

"Shinoa-san! Look! He's awake!" He said happily, making Shinoa smile. The new honorific was jarring to get used to after being called 'Big Sister' for so long, but she would get used to it. She stood up and walked over to Yuichiro.

"Congratulations. Here's your uniform. You're an official member of the army," She held out his uniform to him. "You made a friend and your suspension was lifted," She smirked. "Like it or not, Yoichi-san and I are now those friends you dread so much," He blushed and it satisfied her.

Yoichi put his hand in front of Yuichiro, and Shinoa placed hers on top of his. They looked at Yuichiro excitingly.

"Fine. Then I'll look forward to you two as my partners," He finally said, putting his hand on top. Shinoa and Yoichi threw theirs into the air, cheering and attracting a nurse, who came into the room with a frown.

"Hyakuya-san needs a lot of rest from his condition. You two shouldn't be in here bothering him," She scolded, ushering Shinoa and Yoichi out of the room.

"Let's go back to Lieutenant Colonel's and eat dinner," Shinoa suggested, doing exactly that. When they arrived to his apartment, Guren's squad was nowhere to be found for once, and Makoto was in the middle of finishing up dinner, smiling when he saw them walk into the dining room.

"Sorry about the mess, cooking was a last-minute thing. But I hope it tastes good anyway!" He grinned, his hair tied up in a loose bun to keep it out of his way. Shinoa smiled nicely at Makoto and then at Kimizuki when he sat down at the table as well.

"How was your day at school?" She teased, resting her chin in her hands. Kimizuki stared at her.

"What kind of a question is that? A vampire attacked, my class got evacuated. After it was killed, Sayuri-san dismissed us per Guren-san's orders," When Makoto served everyone, he started eating without a second thought.

"It's still exciting." She smirked, starting to eat her own food as well. "And I got to finally meet Yuichiro-san in person. He's very intense,"

"More like hot-headed. I hated him the moment I saw him,"

"Awwww, you don't truly mean that. Maybe one day, you'll fall madly, deeply in love with him..."

"As if. I could never tolerate someone as annoying as him," Kimizuki adjusted his glasses.

"I think he's only the way he is because he's lonely!" Yoichi piped up. "I-I'm sure if he makes some more friends, he'll open up and be really sweet!"

"I think that's a worthy cause, Yoichi-san!" She smiled. Instantly in her head she started making a list of possible people to put on Yuichiro's squad in the army. Yoichi and Kimizuki were already on it, for starters.

"L-Let's make friends with him! M-More than we already have," He continued, blushing. Shinoa nodded.

"I think that's a great idea! Let's start tomorrow in school," She fist-bumped Yoichi. "Want in on this, Kimizuki-san?" She looked over at him, making him scoff.

"As if." He continued eating in silence while the other two laughed.