Well... it's definitely been a long enough time since I finished up with Moonlight Demon(the original), has it not? Well, nearly six months later, I'm treating all of my fans to something very special: the sequel. If it's been too long for you to remember where we left off, it was at the beginning of the war. Demons killing people, Kotarou and Kotaroh "merged" to become The Shadows, and so on. Time-wise, only a week has passed for them. Yeah, only. But I don't see a need for more time to have passed. The important events are happening right now, yo!

Everyone, please enjoy it. I'm sorry that it took so long to get up!

The Deepest Shadows
Chapter One

It had not even been a week since the demons' initial attack on the city, and already it was starting to look like a ghost town. The humans had tried to do something about the demons, but it was all for naught. Human weapons did nothing to stop the advancements of thousands of demons, all who could heal as fast as they could be hurt.

As for the angels, things seemed to be on fair ground. Because of their now unlimited food source, the demons did not need to retreat to Hell to recover. The angels got their energy and quick healing from God, and his presence had always leaked out into the Human Realm.

Misha gazed around at the road that she and the others were walking on. There were large cracks in the cement, and parts of it had even been pulled up. Dust covered the road, as if it had not been touched by anything for much longer than the few days. This was probably one of the areas where the humans had gotten themselves involved in the battles. The buildings along the road had been damaged, as well. Windows were shattered and there were parts in the walls that had been bent in, where there had been some kind of impact. They had probably thrown some sort of explosives here.

Faintly she could recall Aizou teaching her about human weapons. She taught her about everything that she could think of: swords, guns, knives, pole arms, and many more. IT didn't even matter where the weapons came from, she touched in those areas. Explosives were included. From the basics, to nuclear.

It surprised Misha to find out how much Aizou knew about those things when had been taught, but now she felt that it was just coming in handy. She was glad that her elder had studied humans so much.

"Misha-sama," Kotaroh called out softly to her.

Misha turned around to face her small group, of which she somehow had become the leader. There were only four of them in total: Kotaroh, Kotarou, Klaus and herself. They had frantically searched out the others, but to no avail. There was no sign of any of them. Then, everyone seemed to just lose hope for their friends when Klaus guaranteed them that they were probably dead in some feeding camp.

"Yes, Kotaroh?" she questioned.

Though she was talking to Kotaroh, her eyes kept trailing back to Klaus. The elder demon was starting to show signs of wear. Because of Kotarou's qualms about feeding on humans, none of them had tasted human blood. He could barely handle what he had become, much less what it took to survive as one. Surprisingly, not even Klaus had fed. He respected Kotarou's wishes, even knowing what would come from that.

The battles were starting to take their toll on his body. Hard battle after hard battle, and he never replenished his strength. Well, much to Kotarou's displeasure, he found some sustenance with her own blood, but it was not enough. He needed real human blood, not the dirty blood of a fallen angel.

Kotaroh walked up to her. Her pressed his nose to her cheek, and sighed softly.

"I don't care what Kou-kun says, we should let Klaus-san feed," he whispered to her. He continued to nuzzle her face, even after talking. "It's easy for us, we can just feed on demons. But Klaus-san needs human blood to survive."

"I know, I know," Misha muttered as she pressed her face against Kotaroh's. In all honesty, as inappropriate as it was in this situation, she loved it when he nuzzled her like that, or when her casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She had waited for Kotaroh for so many decades, and now he was finally with her again. She enjoyed it now, because back then she never could.

"I thought you promised to stop that," Klaus spoke up, sounding weak and strained. It was starting to come clear in his voice that he was exhausted.

Misha laughed softly, and peeked her head around Kotaroh. "Yeah, yeah. We'll stop it, Klaus."

Kotarou stood next to Klaus. He always was next to Klaus, though not out of personal choice. He stood there because he was told to, in case Klaus passed out. That was a constant thought for Misha. She could remember Shia's pain, and the way that she cried out while she clutched her chest, when she did not feed. They needed someone there in case that happened, and danger was near.

"It needs to be done," Kotaroh spoke up. He was talking about having Klaus feed on humans.

Misha nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I know, Kotaroh," she said tiredly.

"No," Kotarou declared stubbornly. It was the first thing that he had said in a while. It was a quick reminder that he and Kotaroh shared thoughts. He took a few steps closer to Misha. "No, you can't! Misha-sama! You… You can't do that."

The words "it's like feeding on Ten-chan and the others" hung heavily in the air. Kotarou had always made that argument when he was refusing to hunt.

Misha closed her eyes. She was stuck in such a troubling position. Actually, the decision was easy to make. If Klaus was going to survive, then he was going to need human blood. It was not as good as returning to Hell, but it held him over well. Letting Kotarou's personal feelings mix her up was stupid.

"We're going to, Kotarou-kun," she told him, her tone firm. She narrowed her eyes at him, daring him to challenge her decision.

His hands balled into fists and he glared at her, but he said nothing. After a long moment, he finally said,

"I won't. You can't make me."

"Fine." She turned away from him and to Kotaroh.

The two shared more than just their mind. They had once been the same person and being. Even though they were in two separate bodies now, they were still of the same soul. Somehow that related to their bodies as well. If Kotaroh fed well, then Kotarou could be sustained. It was that simple; if Kotarou refused to feed, then Kotaroh would just have to feed a little more to cover for him.

"Well, you certainly are toughening up," Klaus teased her as he walked up behind her. "Finally seeing the big picture?"

Misha rolled her eyes at his comments.

"Kotaroh, you 'n Kotarou-kun will be safe on your own here, right?" she asked him.

Kotaroh looked surprised. "Uh… yeah…"

"Good. Stay here," she ordered. She looked away and to one of the destroyed buildings. If I bring Kotarou-kun, he'll only try to get in our way. Klaus needs to feed now. We don't have time for it.

"Y-Yes, Misha-sama," Kotaroh replied, sounding confused.

"I'm ready to go whenever you are, Misha," Klaus sighed.

Misha nodded to him. "Me, too." She smiled back at Kotaroh. "We'll be quick. And don't let him go anywhere."

Something clicked in Kotaroh's mind suddenly. He nodded quickly.

"I'll watch him."

She turned to face Kotarou. He had already found himself a place to sit down. He was still glaring at her.

"We'll be back soon, Kotarou-kun," she called out, waving. He looked away. She decided to ignore him for the moment, and turned to Klaus. "Klaus, let's go!"

----------

Misha was not the least surprised to find out that Klaus, even being as weak as he was, could keep up with her as they leapt from rooftop to rooftop. He was an amazing demon. His strength came not only from his body, but from the will of his mind. If he wanted something to get done, then there was nothing that could get in his way. It would happen.

She admired that sort of strength.

"Klaus-san, there aren't a lot of people anymore," she mentioned as she came to a stop in midair.

Misha's angelic cycle was upon her once more, only now it had changed significantly. Her Heavenly glow had completely faded to nothing, and her once ivory wings were pitch black. She had truly become a fallen angel. Aizou had always told her that after becoming a half-demon, there would be no turning back, and that Heaven would surely abandon her--or worse, drive her to death. At the time, desperate to fulfill her own wishes, Misha had not hesitated to accept the proposition.

She landed atop a office building, and examined her hands. They still looked the same as they had while she was an angel. Nothing had really changed about her when she became a half-demon. Her goals had never changed; she still wanted to make the people around her happy. Her appearance had barely been altered by the transformation. Her mind was still her own. She was still herself, and that was Misha. The only thing that had changed was which side she was standing on.

That makes all the difference, doesn't it? she thought, closing her eyes. She rested her hand to her chest. That's why everyone I used to be friends with before are my enemies and want to kill me… even Sacchan…

"Misha," Klaus called out to her, his tone harsh and pressing. His body was on the verge of giving out on him. He would need to feed soon, or he would die.

Misha reopened her eyes and turned around to face the blond demon. She smiled faintly.

"Like Kotarou-kun, I used to hate the idea of feeding on human blood to sustain myself," she said softly. She sighed a little. "Takashi-kun offered himself up to me, though… because he knew that I was dying. I haven't had to feed just yet, not on any other humans, anyways."

"If the boy finds it so detestable, there are other methods that can be used," Klaus mentioned as he walked closer to Misha. "However, these sentiments are getting rather troublesome. Make your decision and force him to follow it."

There it was. While she often found herself wondering just why she had been made the "leader" of their group, she always knew it. They all knew it.

Misha was the master of The Shadows, one of the most powerful demons in existence. Kotaroh and Kotarou were each halves of the demon. The demon itself was a half-demon, half-human mix. It had the power to take over the entire human realm, and to destroy Heaven's glory. It could even rule in Hell. But the key was that it could not control itself, it needed another to direct its powers, and it found and selected the being who was most worthy of the task.

That turned out to be Misha. Somehow.

"Misha, let's find ourselves a good feeding camp," Klaus sighed. He was starting to look worn out again.

Misha glanced over at him with wide eyes. They had come across demon feeding encampments several times, and he had always pushed for them not to do anything. The first time that they had come across one of the encampments, Kotarou had panicked. He tried to attack the demons, but lacked any ability to summon or use his abilities. The demons that worked in and guarded the feeding camps were powerful. Too powerful. They almost had not made it out of that alive.

"But, Klaus-san…" she began to protest, but trailed off. The blond demon was beginning to pant to catch his breath. She nodded. "I'll bring you back a human."

In a somewhat graceful movement, Klaus lowered himself down into a kneeling position. He smirked.

"I had really thought… that I… had more ti… time…" he breathed. "Misha… go to an encampment… Be quiet about it. Find one of the… larger… tents. In… In there, you'll…you'll find the gems… made of blood…"

"What?" she questioned, blinking. "Why do I need to--"

"Leaving out the complicated details, if we each wear one, then we can hold out longer between feedings. It's quite the useful war tactic to demons that we do not need to return to Hell to replenish our energy," he explained. He glanced at her. "I'm sure that this will satisfy your little 'Kotarou-kun' and his ridiculous qualms."

"Blood," Misha murmured. "Human blood, right?"

Klaus nodded. "Yes, human. Which is why you should fail to tell him exactly what they are."

He was right. She knew that he was right. Misha had been grateful for Klaus' unusually understanding behavior towards Kotarou. He kept his feedings at a minimum, and kept it all away from them. She found herself confused, as well, by his actions. Klaus had never struck her as the kind to care about those things.

Perhaps is was the fact that Kotarou was the human half of The Shadows that made him weary. It was the only explanation that made enough sense for her to even try to believe it.

"Alright, Klaus," Misha said finally. "Let's get going. Suu."

----------

It had only been five or ten minutes, but Kotarou was sick of waiting for Misha and Klaus to return. Kotaroh was standing a few feet away from him, watching him closely.

Kotarou sighed heavily.

"Misha-sama is doing her best," Kotaroh said, finally braking the tense silence. "Kou-kun…"

He looked down and at the ground. Cracks traveled through the cement, gathering at one certain point where something had impacted with the road. What, he had no clue. It might have been from demons fighting half-demons, or angels and demons fighting, or even humans trying to destroy whatever it was that had been attacking them at the time.

Kotarou closed his eyes. He could feel his other half trying to worm his way into his mind. He wasn't nearly as experienced ad Kotaroh was, and keeping him out took more effort than he was comfortable with.

"Stop it!" he snapped, getting to his feet. "Just stop it!"

His other half smirked a little, then shrugged. Kotarou could feel the exact moment when he stopped trying to read his mind. It was like a weight lifted off of his shoulders. He could relax a little, but not much. Kotaroh was someone that he did not trust very much, if at all. It did not matter if they were two halves of the same being, Kotaroh was too much like a demon. He often found himself wondering if the brunette had ever really been human.

"Misha-sama is doing her best," Kotaroh repeated. He turned away with a sigh. "You understand that, don't you, Kou-kun?"

"Don't call me that," he muttered.

Kotaroh turned to face him and grinned suddenly. "Don't change the subject. You know that Klaus needs to feed, so just let it go."

Kotarou was quiet for a moment. Humans. Humans were going to be slaughtered for Klaus' feeding. How could anyone but a demon be so casual about it?

Then there was Misha. She was most likely going to feed along with Klaus to support herself. He hated the thought of making her weak because she couldn't feed, but at the same time, these were humans that she was going to feed on. People, like Takashi and Koboshi. Or his father. Shia was counted on that list of people, too. Misha didn't even care about that anymore.

Had she ever?

"Misha-sama's supposed to protect humans," Kotarou said finally. "Not kill them, or feed on them. But she is…" He clenched his fists and glared at his other half. "What kind of an angel does that?"

He did not even have time to see Kotaroh's fist before he was struck across the face. He stood in place, dumbfounded. Kotaroh was so fast. That was why he always stayed closest to Misha when they fought. He was the one that could protect her. He fed, he kept his strength up. He loved her the same way that she loved him.

"Don't you ever talk about her like that again," Kotaroh growled. "Misha-sama is a great angel. She always has been! She's always trying her hardest to keep you happy, and you treat her like that!"

Kotarou sighed softly and closed his eyes. He was tired. He knew that if he fought, he didn't stand a chance. Backing down was his only choice right now. That was what he would do.

"Yeah… Okay," he said softly. "Fine."