Disclaimer: I own nothing from Seraph of the End. Everything belongs to their respective owners.

Warning: This contains spoilers for the 24th episode of Seraph of the End. Please refrain from reading if you wish to not be spoiled. Thanks~!

Not What Yu Thought

The sunlight was bright as he followed Mika out of their temporary dwelling. The rest of their group was already outside, their bags now packed for the journey ahead. Mika made a slightly displeased comment on how quickly they were going ahead with their plan – Yu was pretty sure he was the only one who could tell that said comment was a hidden complaint – and the dark-haired teen really couldn't blame him. Mika was probably as displeased about heading back to the vampire capital as the rest of them.

Once he had awoken from a deep sleep four months ago, he found that he didn't quite know where they were at. It was to be expected; the last thing he remembered was Asuramaru speaking to him and then… darkness. The surprise at his whole family – minus Guren, whose whereabouts were unknown – being alright was enough to make him cry. Maybe it was an aftereffect of losing his humanity for a short time or something else, but he felt genuine relief.

Shinoa had also informed them of her decision to leave the Demon Army shortly after Yu woke up. She had apologized, knowing that she couldn't have spoken for the whole group, but that she had felt it was right – especially after everything that had happened. Their whole team agreed, solidifying their 'moto' on family.

Yu decided that it felt strange to be in civilian clothing again. It wasn't like he hadn't worn relaxing clothing for years – in fact, he tended to wear it on days off – but he couldn't quite shake the feeling of the uniform he had worn dutifully. The JIDA uniform had been shredded beyond repair when he had woken up, and even Kimizuki's sewing skills couldn't mend the damage that had been done. When he had gotten rid of the uniform, everyone else had as well, in a sort of ceremonial bonfire. They made sure that the fire wouldn't be obvious to anyone that could have been pursuing them, but it made a weight in his chest lighten, like they could leave the memories and move on.

Still, everything that had happened with Guren was painful. Yu wasn't quite sure what to think; he didn't want to believe that his parent/mentor had betrayed them. Guren had been crying – the man never cried, so that had to have meant something… right? Mika still wasn't very convinced, but his adoptive brother would see someday. After all, they were now living in a house with the rest of his team, who the vampire had initially distrusted. He would change his mind someday.

The absence of their lieutenant wasn't the only pain they were feeling; Kimizuki was clearly hurting after what had happened with his sister. Yu had to admit that he didn't remember much – everything that had happened left him a bit disoriented – but the group promised to rescue her, just like they had done with Mika. Said vampire finally agreed as well, after a convincing talk from his brother.

Yu hadn't heard anything from Asuramaru since the last battle. The demon had gone silent and, no matter how hard the dark-haired teen tried, he couldn't enter a dream sequence where they could talk. It was even a surprise that he had woken up at all – and as a human at that. He had received no nightmares on his family since then, aside from the natural ones, and he hadn't encountered a situation where he would have had to call on the demon in his sword. He wanted to believe that Asuramaru just needed to rest, after all that he had done.

Now, four months later, they were finally ready to move forward. Wherever the future would take them… that was uncertain, but they would stick together from now on. Yu started to walk along the beach with the others, listening to their playful and good-natured banter. He was the target of some of their conversations, but they tended to avoid what had happened, content with moving forward. The group had already discussed what had happened in length, so they didn't feel the need to bring it up.

His emerald gaze was suddenly cast towards the water as a familiar scent hit him. His feet moved of their own accord, walking – not with the others – but into the tide of the clear water. The waves brushed against his now-soaked clothing as he took in the sight. He was prepared to turn around and join the others again, but something… unexpected happened.

He didn't expect Mika to tackle him from behind. From the force of it, he could tell it wasn't one of those playful tackles; it seemed like one out of fright. Yu, completely unprepared for the results, found himself falling towards the water. The liquid filled his open mouth as he was forced under and his head hit the wet sand beneath them with surprising force – Mika must have forgotten how strong he was.

The teen was suddenly forced up towards the surface, causing him to start coughing as soon as the air above was within his reach. He let out a startled shout at the vampire, who was supporting his almost dead-weight. "Mika, what-?!"

He was interrupted by his adoptive brother's exclamation and, no matter how surprising it was, he couldn't quite understand what the vampire was thinking. "Stay above the water, Yu-chan!" Mika had a look of absolute terror on his face, which was mixed with the anger in his red eyes. What exactly is he trying to do?!

Yu couldn't yell out another retort as another rogue wave came crashing over them, forcing his coughing to continue. The water wasn't this rough when I was standing in it! The thought caused him to realize that it was probably another byproduct of Mika's unrelenting strength.

As they finally made it back to the shore, Mika sat him down gently on the sand as he continued to cough. The rest of their group – who all seemed genuinely surprised by the events – made their way over to the two quickly.

"Mika-kun, Yu-kun, are you two alright?" Yoichi started questioning them as soon as the group got close enough, overwhelming concern in his eyes. The younger teen bent down to pat Yu's back, trying to help him get rid of the water in his lungs.

"Yu-san, what were you thinking?!" At Shinoa's enraged shout, Yu found that he was completely confused on the situation. Slightly angered as well, but very confused.

"What do you mean, what was I thinking?! What was Mika thinking, tackling me like that?!" Yu pointed over at his adoptive brother as the blonde stood up, the same look of anger on his face. The vampire simply narrowed his eyes, not getting a chance to retort.

"If Mika hadn't been there, who knows what would have happened." Mitsuba glanced at the vampire before settling her gaze on the dark-haired teen. She seemed slightly angry and concerned as well. In fact, now that Yu could breathe again, he could think. And since he could think, he realized that everyone's reactions seemed very similar: Yoichi looked overly concerned while everyone else seemed partially angry. But why?

"I didn't think you would be so self-absorbed that you would try to throw your life away after everything that we've done." Kimizuki shook his head, probably thinking about how much of an idiot Yu had been at that moment. The only problem was that everyone else besides him seemed to know what had happened.

Wait… Yu reviewed the other teen's words in his mind, taking a few seconds to find the full weight of them. Wait, wait, wait… WHAT?!

"What are you talking about?!" He shouted, now fully aware of what they had thought, but… how could they have come to such a conclusion. "Why would you guys think that I-?!"

"Yu-chan, you started walking into the water without letting us know." Mika was clearly overprotective, but this was… I don't need a babysitter!

"You can't let everything that's happened up to this point get you down. I thought we were past this." Mitsuba turned to Kimizuki as the two started debating their earlier conversations. They were worried about the weight of everything, but he had been able to handle it so far! What made them think any differently?

"Yu-san, why would you throw your life away after everything that's happened?! Why didn't you say anything if you were feeling so depressed?!" Shinoa continued to question him as her gaze turned remorseful. He could already tell that she felt badly about not picking up on his supposed depression. They are taking this too far!

"GUYS!" Yu finally had enough of their accusations. He shouted as loud as he could, gathering everyone's attention on him. Yoichi backed away a step at the shout, clearly shocked at his outburst. He ignored the action, deciding that he would take advantage of being the center of attention for now. "I wasn't going to commit suicide!"

The air was heavy with silence for a full minute as the rest of the group just stared at him. Their faces went from shocked to contemplating to confused as they mulled it over in their minds. Mika was the first one to break the silence.

"You weren't, Yu-chan? But you seemed so…" The blonde vampire trailed off as his gaze moved to the side, out towards the ocean. The waves were now calming back down after the effects of Mika's football-style tackle. The blue now seemed calm and inviting.

"I wasn't. I just wanted to say that-" Yu was fully prepared to tell them what he had been thinking on, especially when he realized he could still smell the scent in the air despite being soaked, when a raindrop hit his head. Another fell and soon the whole beach was damp with the water falling from the sky.

Their group stood frozen for a moment as the downpour continued, drenching those who were not already wet. Yu sat on the ground, his hair drooping with the added weight of the water. And my feelings…

"I was going to say that the rain was coming." He finished, sighing as he stood up. Their bags were now soaked as well, causing him to look back at the building they had stayed in. It wasn't too far from where they were. Shinoa followed his gaze.

"Do we want to postpone this trip until the rain stops?"

"Hai." Everyone answered in unison, with the brown-haired archer of the group being more enthusiastic than the rest. They started towards their temporary home with a slower gait; why did it matter how fast they moved when they were already soaked?

"You guys ruined my inspirational moment." Yu muttered as he followed after them. Yoichi hurried to catch up, walking beside the black-haired teen with a face that clearly meant he had a question. The teen sighed, but decided to try and help anyway. "What's wrong, Yoichi?"

"Ah! Everyone started shouting at once and so I couldn't quite hear, but…" Yoichi hesitated, looking at the rest of their group before smiling. "What were we debating?"

Yu stopped walking in shock. The archer's question soaked into his mind faster than the pouring rain, causing him to sigh once more. "Yoichi, just… don't worry about it, alright?"

Hi, everyone! In case you couldn't tell, this was from the final scene of episode 24 (how about that ending?)! I thought that Yu was seriously going to drown himself or something once he walked into the water – I got really concerned! – so that's where this came from. Instead, the animators decided to be nice and end it 'inspirationally'~! Just curious, but was anyone else surprised by how Yoichi could carry an injured Kimizuki? I didn't think he had the strength for that… Speaking of which, this fanfiction was meant to be humorous, so everyone probably was a bit OOC. I hope you all enjoyed it though! Please let me know what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9