Her argument made sense… that was the only reason Yu even considered it. "You all need to keep up your strength," she had said, "to be able to use your weapons and your powers, otherwise, we will fail every attempt we make against the vampires. If we're going to do that, we may as well just kill ourselves now and be done with it." He hated to admit that their recent missions had been pretty miserable, they had skated by on mere luck mostly. The truth she spoke sarcastically was all too accurate, they were all too tired to be of real use to the cause they were fighting for. Someone on the team was going to get killed if they didn't change tactics, and Yu wasn't willing to accept that probable outcome. It was for this reason and this reason only, that he accepted her proposal. Reina Kagiyama was already an unexpected 8th member of their original five person team, and she didn't carry cursed gear, which already had him on edge in trying to protect so many people. He knew why Guren had assigned her to their team after the battle of Nagoya, it was unexpected, but made sense. He just wished she wasn't so logical, because he hated her proposal, and it only irked him that she used no emotion in making it. After all, you would think she would be a little timid in risking her own safety, recklessly throwing yourself at dangerous foes was usually his thing. Maybe that was why she thought he would approve of her plan… he looked at her sharply, "Are you sure about this? It's not exactly safe, especially with your condition…"

~*~

Mikaela sat against the cave wall, unmoving. He could hear all the others around him, all seven; every shuffle, every breath, every heartbeat, every flow of blood in their veins like waterfalls sounding against his ear drums, making his insides ache in hunger. Yet, he remained still, he would not ask Yu for more… not yet. He could see how exhausted his friend was already, and he could not bear to add to his suffering. His friend and his comrades had already been through so much already, they all just needed rest. He could pretend to sleep if it meant they would rest easier, it always seemed to make them feel better when they thought he wasn't hungry. He supposed they had good reason to feel that way. Even his restraint had limits as he was finding out, the longer he waited, the harder it was to control himself. The greater his hunger when he started, the harder it was to stop. He knew he couldn't wait much longer, tomorrow would be pushing it as it was, he would be like a feral animal at any point after that. Yet, he could not ignore the stress in the heart beats of his human companions, he could hear the exhaustion in all of them… except her.

He looked up at the newest member of this team he traveled with, she had approached him while he had been lost in his own thoughts of hunger denial. Her loose brown curls with hints of red-gold swayed slightly as she crouched down beside him, her sapphire eyes seeming to slice into his soul… or rather they would if he still had a soul, he assumed, they made him so uncomfortable at times. She obviously had something on her mind, but glanced to the side, where he realized Yu was now standing. He must have been so distracted by hunger he had not even noticed they had come so close. Yu nodded and Reina looked back at Mikaela with a look between firm and apathy which confused him even more when she finally spoke, "You need blood." He was so caught off guard that he was unsure if he should protest or admit it, so he didn't say anything, his mouth just opened then shut again in a grim line. "Yu cannot give you what you need right now, neither can the others," she had continued, he wasn't sure if he could actually blush, but if he could he was guessing he was right about then, this was the most they had talked about his vampire hunger pains since he first fed on a human, Yu. "They are all too exhausted and need to rest, but you also cannot go on weakening yourself, it is harmful to you and dangerous for us." He was hoping she would get to the point soon, the longer she crouched so close to him, the harder it was for him to focus on anything other than that constant flow to and from her heart… like a man in the desert listening to a recording of the ocean waves hitting the beach. Wait, did her heart just skip a beat? He looked up at her again as she had taken a breath before finishing, "That is why you can take some of mine." His eyes went wide and he looked at Yu, thinking he had misheard, but the grim line of his friend's mouth confirmed he had heard correctly.

~*~

"You agree with this?" Mikaela asked his best friend, Yu was never one to pass on a responsibility he deemed his own to another, and he had viewed Mika as his responsibility feverishly ever since he learned of his vampirism. Yu looked at the group around them, then back to where Mikaela and Reina sat, he tried to choose his words carefully, "I am always the last to admit when I need help, but Reina is right, and I know it sounds distasteful to use the word 'logical' in this kind of situation, but what she is proposing does make sense…" Mika looked doubtful, so Yu continued hastily, "but, if I was to trust your care to anyone in the world, it would be her. Possibly even before myself."

"I guess the only question I have then," Mika said, looking at Reina, "how can you trust me? After all, this is your life too…" Reina looked down sheepishly, "I guess I will just have to trust the others will avenge my death if you take it too far."