Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/places from Seraph of the End.

Note: If I ever did (which I most likely will never) there would be a lot more simpler moments like this one :)

Sweeter Than Blood

Mika knew that Krul liked to watch him. Sometimes, she would just bring him to the throne room for that reason, observing him as he was left to his thoughts. Most of the time though, she called him there for some sort of assignment and – rarer still – just for company.

The moment he walked into the throne room, the blonde vampire knew that he would be retrieving something for her. He just knew with the way she was acting; it was painfully familiar to him.

Krul stared down at him, but… she seemed almost reluctant to talk. It was almost as though the conversation would cause her some sort of pain. What could be that bad?

"What do you need?" the blonde decided to start the conversation. If he didn't, she probably would dismiss him with the same worries left in her mind. If he could help her, then he would. She was already doing the same for him.

"I… need you to get something for me," he tilted his head slightly. The way she had said the words… it was like she was hesitating.

"Which is…?"

"It has to remain a secret though," she added, not taking notice of his confusion. Once again, the words were new. Why exactly was she acting this way?

"Alright," he nodded, still not sure of what she wanted. The longer this conversation went on, the more confused he got. "I wasn't planning on-"

"Good. Now – in absolute secrecy or else suffering dire consequences – I need you to…" she trailed off again, fiddling with her skirt. Mika waited for her to continue, his mind still absorbing the 'suffer dire consequences' part.

"To…?" the blonde prodded, taking a step forward. Her red gaze kept avoiding his blue one. Her entire behavior was off and it was causing him some slight amount of anxiety.

Could something have happened?

"To… I'm running out of…" Her hand reached uncertainly for something beside her; her face turning red as she held out a box. The box was red with gold decorations. Kanji symbols spelled out a simple word her index finger pointed at.

"'Chocolate,'" he read the word, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice. He had apparently succeeded – or she hadn't noticed – because the other vampire nodded, her appearance becoming more embarrassed.

"Yes, you see… I am running out of this box and I don't know who else to send…"

Couldn't she send someone else? Mika had never been asked to go find chocolate for her. It wasn't like he cared if he got it – if it made her happy, then he figured he would get it for her – but since he hadn't been sent for it before, that meant that someone else had to get it before him.

"I can try and find some, but…" she seemed to discern what he was trying to ask. Relief did enter her eyes when she heard his words.

"I did send some others to get it before, but I couldn't trust them to keep this a secret."

"Ah." That explained the dire consequences he would face. She's definitely serious about that part.

"I don't mind where you get it from," she started to wave at him to dismiss him, but another thought seemed to enter her mind.

"Unless, it's from Ferid," they both stated at the same time, Mika sighing at the annoying thought. Of course, he wouldn't accept anything from Ferid, but it was a precaution.

"I'll… go find some then." He quickly exited the room, wondering how he could complete such a task. Naturally, this would have to be accomplished by going outside of the vampire city. He was pretty sure that none could be found inside it.

It would be better to find some rather than going back empty handed. Now, I just have to hope that Ferid didn't find out about this and horded it all…

Krul had been waiting for three hours. It wasn't like she was an impatient vampire, but she was starting to doubt that she should have sent Mika. What if he couldn't find any? Or worse, what if he gets captured by the Demon Army while he's out there?

"Uh… I got one of our prospective vampires captured by the Demon Army while searching for chocolate…" she mumbled the possible response. Yep, that would definitely not work.

The door on the other side of the throne room opened and, almost like an answer to her worried imagination, Mika walked through it. The blonde walked halfway to the throne before he held a box, one that looked very similar to the one she had been shown him.

"Found it," was all he said as he walked the rest of the way and handed it to her. As she stared at the box of chocolates and watched him retreat to a respectful distance, she noticed that he looked tired.

How far did he actually search for this? The thought caused a slight flutter in her chest, forcing her to look away from him. Yes, now that she stared at the box, it did look identical to the other one…

"You didn't have to get the same kind," she tried to regain her composure, but she realized that she must have caused him more trouble. After all, her mind had neglected to remind her of that detail.

"I guess I'll know where to get more next time," the blonde responded, a small smile on his face. The action thrilled her more than he could have known. You're always so moody all the time, not like you used to be.

She opened the box, taking a small whiff of the smell. Her gaze wandered to Mika, who was probably waiting to be dismissed again. A selfish part of her didn't want to give him up just yet.

"Mika…" his blue gaze met to hers as she spoke, "you must have had chocolate at some time when you were a human, right?"

The teen's head tilted a bit in thought. "Occasionally," his answer was one word, irking her a little at the brevity. Of course he didn't like to talk about what happened in the past, but he should have really been more open with her. Like we used to be.

"Then I'm sure you understand this. Other sweets seem too bitter and blood… it has a specific taste, but chocolate is something sweeter."

Krul lifted a finger to her mouth, biting down on the tip just enough to draw a small amount of blood. The blonde vampire watched her, confusion etched into his gaze. Her other hand selected one of the chocolates from the package. Her bleeding finger dabbed at the top of it, smiling as she did so.

Red eyes darted back to the other vampire and she held out her 'creation.' Mika, however, seemed genuinely flustered. "I… uh…wha-?" he seemed to fumble for something to say, something of a coherent thought. She smiled wider when she saw the small blush on his face.

"Chocolate is sweet, but it's no fun to eat alone." A delighted laugh left her throat as her words deepened his blush. A gloved hand reached for the chocolate hesitantly. She extended her reach, placing it into his hand as she grabbed one for her to eat.

His mouth opened a small amount – most likely to eat what he had been given – but it closed before he did. "Thank you," the politeness that she had seen from years past came back, making the moment all worth it. As the blonde took small bites of the chocolate, she smiled again.

"What's the point of anything if you're so moody all the time?" she asked, seeing his eyes blink in surprise. He didn't have a response for her though, so she continued. "If you just focus on one thing, you'll miss all sorts of fun in life. I've lived long enough to know. So, learn to enjoy things again, or else you won't be able to smile when you see your family again."

Yeah I left it off on a weird note, but I really enjoyed writing this~ :D This one was Krul X Mika (as stated in the summary) and I'm really starting to like writing their interactions. Despite with the newest episode (which I fan girled over the whole time) I feel like there could be a lot more moments between them. To clear anything up, this is a 16 year old Mika (he's so much harder to write than a 8 or 12 year old Mika!) and with Krul screaming in the back of my head 'be less moody, Mika!' this was born. Anyway, please let me know what you thought and I hope you enjoyed it!

-AnimeWolfGirl9