The light from above wasn't warm.
Mikaela closed his eyes as the realization sank firmly into his being. They didn't try to make the ceiling of the underground city look like the sky, but they did have these soft lights that mimicked the behavior of the sun.
He wasn't sure if it was intentional, if it was merely a way to help them keep some internal sense of time. Perhaps it allowed the vampires to stick to their sleep schedule down here in the underground?
Mikaela didn't know if vampires could sleep or not. He wished that he could find the time to sleep. He was so tired… in the deep soul draining way that he had presumed only certain adults could feel.
Mikaela needed more than a nap. He needed a long sleep, real food, his blood to stay in his body, his family's safety, and he needed the sun.
Lips parted in a deep sigh as those are things that he's sure are never going to happen.
Running footsteps approached where Mikaela was laying on the stone half wall that served as a fence between solid ground and the sheer drop off on the other side. It was almost like a balcony for the ghettos that were the areas where the humans were kept. To the other side, Mikaela could see the vast landscape of the underground city of Sanguinem. There were large, buildings shinning a bright white under the false sun. Elegant architecture to match the vampire's wasteful, extravagant tastes.
"Mika!" The urgent scream had Mikaela sitting up even as the person approaching him got steadily closer.
"Fumie-chan...?" Mikaela asked, voice lilting higher in a question as the girl came to a stuttering stop. She leaned forward, bracing herself against her knees as she panted heavily.
It was several moments before the girl could manage to speak, and even then her words were fragmented and breathless. "Yu… nii… san is in… a fight!"
A gasp escaped Fumie's lips as she fell on her butt, she looked up with wide eyes at the suddenly standing Mikaela. He had startled her at his sudden movement. The boy in question blinked, before giving a sheepish grin and reaching a hand down to the girl.
"Sorry for startling you, Fumie-chan." He apologized with a small smile as he helped her to her feet. "Let's go save Yu-chan now!"
He took off running, dragging the poor younger girl along behind him. There were only a few kids that were older than them around here, seeing as the virus had killed those thirteen and older. It didn't make much of a difference, but the older boys still liked to picked on Yu and Yu was always itching for a fight.
"Where are they?" Mikaela asked Fumie as they ran, speaking loudly to be heard over their panting breath and the pulse in their ears.
Glancing back, he slowed his pace until they came to a stop. Fumie abruptly collapsed to her butt on the tiled ground, gasping desperately for air. Lifting a shaking arm, she pointed down the path between the ragged buildings to the right.
Mikaela nodded, muttering a quick thank you as he turned on his heel. Racing towards the direction his younger sister had pointed, he was soon enough graced with the obvious sounds of a fight.
The path through this area was more of an alleyway than a true road. Single story buildings stood too close together on either side, leaning ominously over Mikaela as he ran between them. Over the loud exhales of his own, he could hear the shuffling and curses of a fight echoing toward him.
Emerging from between the two buildings, the alley dumped into a little cul du sac. The entries of the buildings, ever so large to children, all facing the small group of boys scuffling in the center of what could pass for a courtyard.
Pausing, with his hand braced against the rough surface of one of the buildings that were the livestock shelters, Mikaela took a moment to breath.
Three boys were trying to pin Yu down. Three! They'd had problems before, sure, but only with one or occasionally two other boys. That three of them were wailing upon Yu now was a bit disconcerting. What had Yu-chan done now?
Blue eyes wide, he watched the fight for a moment. Yu had just punched one of the boys in the face, hand coming away bloody from what could only be a broken nose. The kid howled, holding his face and stumbling back. All three paused, glancing at the injured party before the two redoubled their efforts on hitting Yu. The bigger boy, probably older than them, grabbed Yu by the waist, pulling him back. The other uninjured boy slammed a fist into Yu's stomach.
Pushing away from the wall, Mikaela stalked over to the fight. Cracking his knuckles on the way. They were so busy with Yu that none of them noticed him until his foot had already driven its way home between the legs of the boy who'd been punching Yu.
Taking advantage of his assailant's surprise, Yu slipped away from his grasp. He spun around and slammed his fist into that boy's wide eyed face as well. The two groaned on the ground, and the one with the bloody nose was nowhere to be found when Mika glanced behind to look for him.
"Yu-chan…" Mikaela turned to the dark haired boy. "Are you okay?"
Yuuichirou wiped at the blood on his mouth where he had bit his lip before nodding. "Yeah… the assholes had to outnumber me to even have a chance." A shit eating grin curled his lips as he peered down at one of the boys still rolling in pain on the ground.
Clicking his tongue, Mika shook his head. "Language, Yu-chan!" He admonished, shaking a finger at his brother.
"Keh! As if that matters now!"
"But what if Akane hears you…"
Yuuichirou paled instantly. "Don't you dare tell her! You've said it yourself before! You hear me? Mika! Don't you ignore me."
He continued to shout as Mikaela placed his hands over his ears, singing the word 'la' repeatedly in an effort to not hear Yu's words. Mika even turned away and started walking towards the exit of the alleyway.
Yu trailed along behind him. "Mika… seriously, don't tell her. I know you can hear me! Stupid Blondie." He huffed when Mikaela didn't answer him, continuing to ignore him with his hands over his ears. He'd stopped the singing though.
"Don't you dare tell her about the fight either! You hear me!"
The two made sure to round up the rest of their siblings before heading toward the building the Hyakuya orphans had claimed as their own. Fumie and Kouta had gathered in the alleyway, having watched the fight that the two older boys had been apart of.
They knew Chihiro was at home, however strange it was to call that home, with Akane. Fumie and Taichi had come out with them earlier. Neither they or Fumie and Taichi knew if they were still out where they were allowed to play, or if they had gone home already.
Really no one was supposed to go off on their own. It was a rule that either Akane, Mika or even Yu was to be with them if they had, or wanted to, leave the house they resided in. While their caretakers were children themselves, no one really disobeyed. It was generally understood… the situation that they were all in.
Mikaela sighed after they'd had their brief discussion on where the two were. "Let's just go home first, see if they are there before running around all of Sanguinem searching."
That's what they were supposed to do, after all. Run home if something happens. Mika supposed that a fight was something happening, though he'd had preferred them to stay with them in a case such as this. They could handle other children picking fights… it's the vampires that they needed to worry about.
Akane had begun working on dinner by the time they arrived home. The delicious scent of the food filled the small, drafty building and Mikaela's stomach rumbled as soon as they'd opened the door.
His face flushed as Yu sent him a knowing look over his shoulder. They slipped off their slippers, seeing as how they slept on the floor of the larger room with the entry. There were lumpy pillows and threadbare blankets strewn about the floor, and it wouldn't do to soil them with their shoes.
The arguing voices of Ako and Kouta soon graced their ears, and both the older boys sighed in relief. Their wayward children were home after all.
No one wasted time making their way into the other room, the only other one in the house aside from a small washroom.
The kitchen was dim, lite only by a single hanging light. The metal grate over the light bulb gave it a harsh industrial appearance that the bright yellow of the body did nothing to assuage. The rest of the appliances were just as bad.
Akane looked up as they entered the room, a large smile spreading her lips as she saw that it as them. In her hand was carefully clutched a small paring knife and in the other a half peeled potato. The large double sink that she and Chihiro, who was helping her, spoke of workrooms and not culinary inspirations.
"Hi guys, dinner's almost started!" Akane chirped in greeting. She quickly returned to peeling her potatoes, not that there were many there to peel. The two girls had maybe six to peel between the two of them.
Chihiro looked up at them with a smile, offering a soft hi in greeting. Her large glasses were crooked on her nose as usual and it was hard for Mikaela not to point it out to her again. He'd better not with a knife in her hand, it wouldn't be good if the girl stabbed herself trying to straighten her glasses. Not that she would mean to. She'd had the same glasses since she'd come to the orphanage and they didn't seem to work as good as they used to.
Ako and Kouta perked up as the four filed into the room, squealing happily to Mikaela. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" They ran over to the blonde boy, jumping up and down once they'd gotten to him. Ako flung her arms out and glomped onto Mikaela, knocking the both of them to the ground.
Yu gave a small squeak as he jumped to the side and out of the way. Fumie and Taichi merely exchanged confused looks.
"Rice!" Barked Akane.
Like magic Kouta had suddenly found his way back to the small, dinged up stove-top oven with a wooden spoon in hand. It took Ako a moment longer, as she had to untangle her limbs from Mikaela's. Once she got there, Kouta handed the spoon to her, and she took up stirring the pot on the stove which must have been full of rice. They didn't have any lids to properly steam it.
Turning, Kouta bowed to Mikaela briefly. "Thank you for the food!"
Mikaela smiled sadly at the boy. "You're very welcome." He said, bowing back immediately after he had gotten to his feet. Kouta was trying very hard to act older, and they all knew it. They all were in a way.
Akane shared that sad smile as she watched the scene from the corner of her eye.
Yuuichirou had clenched his fists while standing in the background.
Once the potatoes were peeled and cut, she had Fumie and Chihiro help her prepare the broth. Yuuichirou had been enlisted in helping Taichi set the table, which always proved to be more of a hassle than it really should be. Mikaela sat at the table, watching and laughing with everyone as he hadn't been ordered to do anything.
Soon enough dinner was done and everyone was seated at the large, rough wooden table. The children were loud, with Akane joining in on their antics. Occasionally she would cast concerned glances toward Mikaela. Yuuichirou had caught her attention as well. He wasn't eating.
"Yu-chan…" Akane called gently. "Why aren't you eating?"
The boy in question looked up slowly, a slight blush dusting his cheeks. "I'm not hungry." A lie that they all knew as his stomach had been growling noisily this entire time.
A silence had fallen upon them, each of them glancing at Yu surreptitiously between bites. Mikaela had sat down his spoon to regard Yu with Akane.
Eventually Yu shoved away from the table, muttering to be excused under his breath as he fled from the room. Akane followed him, leaving Mikaela to assure the children that all was well.
Lies of course. Which he instantly regretted telling once Yu's voice was heard through the doorless entry between the two rooms. Akane knew better than to let the children overhear, but Yuuichirou had no such control.
"I will not eat food that the vampires have touched!"
Muttering, angry whispers, and the shuffling of clothing could be heard, as everyone had frozen where the sat. They didn't even dare chew as they held their breaths in shock or to eavesdrop.
Finally, Yu's voice again. "You know what he's been doing, Akane!"
And then the slam of the door.
