2: Offerings and Apologies

"Here, will this be enough for everyone, Shinoa?" Mika asked as he placed a freshly killed deer from his hunting trip earlier on the kitchen counter.

The Hiragi girl whistled as she examined the carcass. It was a good enough size to feed her entire squad for at least a week. "It's more than enough, Mika, thank you. I didn't know you could hunt."

"I had Yoichi's help; he was the one who actually made the kill. I just used my senses to help him find the animal. Why don't you let me take care of skinning and gutting it while you cut the vegetables?"

Shinoa nodded and held back a sigh of relief at the vampire's offer to do the unpleasant task and turned back to the cutting board where she was peeling and cutting a pile of vegetables. As a vampire, she knew Mika didn't need to eat like the rest of them did but was grateful nonetheless for his willingness to help out with dinner preparations. At the moment, it was just the two of them as Mitsuba was busy doing laundry while the rest of the squad was out hunting monsters as they had promised the villagers in exchange for their room and board. Yuu himself was still unconscious so Mika decided to return early to check up on him but not before doing what he could to help Shinoa prepare dinner. Working quickly, he skinned, gutted, and cut the deer into large chunks to refrigerate while leaving behind enough smaller pieces for Shinoa to cook. Once that was done, Mika quickly washed his hands and left the kitchen to check up on Yuu.

As he expected, his brother was still comatose but his breathing was stronger and more even, indicating that he was vast recovering and should be awake any day now. It was fortunate that Yuu's seraph powers also healed the injury he received from Guren in Nagoya or he would not have made it for it would have been difficult to treat him while the group was on the run and taking him to a hospital would risk all of them being captured, especially Yuu himself. After making sure his brother was all right, Mika returned to the kitchen to help Shinoa finish cooking. As he approached the kitchen, he stopped in the doorway when he saw the Hiragi girl with her back turned to him, her full attention on the stove in front of her as she hummed a soft tune, pleased that her cooking skills have gotten better over the last few weeks. For some reason, Mika felt compelled to just stand there in silence for a few moments to watch Shinoa cook. Looking at her reminded him of gentle Akane, his and Yuu's sister from the Hyakuya orphanage. He remembered how he used to stand in the kitchen doorway in silence and watch Akane cook dinner for him and the rest of their family after returning home from Ferid's mansion for the night and bringing her the ingredients she needed.

Mika frowned at the thought of his late adoptive sister for he knew that Akane would have been around the same age as Shinoa was now if she still lived. Thinking of her was also a painful reminder of how he had foolishly led the other Hyakuya children into a trap that costed them their lives as well as Yuu and himself their humanity. It was a mistake he would regret for the rest of his life and vowed never to repeat, especially not with Yuichiro, the only remainder of his previous family.

Mika was snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Shinoa's voice. "Are you hungry yet, Mika?" she asked. "I'm almost done. Would you please help me out by setting up the table?"

"Yes, of course!" He answered. "How did you know I was here?"

Without turning around, the Hiragi girl smiled. "I heard you walk in. You may be light-footed, but my hearing is quite sharp, Mika" she answered.

Mika found himself amused by Shinoa's answer. Light-footed? At a hundred and forty pounds, the vampire knew he was no light flower but did not argue. "I see" he said simply. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll be setting up the table now if you would be so kind as to tell me where the dishes and utensils are."

"Inside the cupboard in the dining room" she answered.

After the dinner table was set up, Shinoa and Mika wasted no time putting the food on it. It was still a bit early and the others have not returned just yet but Shinoa had reminded everyone earlier to be back by at least six before the food went cold. Mika didn't know if it was coincidence that the Hiragi girl decided to make curry for tonight's dinner. The last time he had it was the night he, Yuu, and the other Hyakuya children tried to leave Sanguinem. Little did he know that with the exception of Yuu, it would be their last meal as well as his own.

After everything was ready, Shinoa suddenly spoke. "Mika, I know you don't really need it, but would you like to join us for dinner? Yuu told me that curry was one of your favorite foods."

Mika frowned as he took one look at the seven bowls of curry on the table, one of which was prepared for him, before turning to Shinoa and shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't eat that anymore; I would only throw it up if I tried."

A brief look of hurt appeared on Shinoa's face before she cast her eyes downward. "Oh, I see. I'm sorry, I didn't think."

As soon as he saw her expression, Mika felt a pang of guilt curl in his stomach as he realized she might have misunderstood his words to imply that her cooking was bad or that he didn't think it good enough to suit his tastes. As Shinoa turned to leave him, Mika quickly but gently grabbed her hand, making her turn back to face him with a start.

"Shinoa, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that so please don't misunderstand" he apologized as he tried his best to smile. Mika knew he had be difficult and often unreasonable with Yuu's other friends in the past yet even so, they had been patient with him for his brother's sake. He knew that Shinoa had made an enemy of the entire Japanese Imperial Demon Army as well as the Hiragi clan, her own blood relatives, for his sake as well as Yuu's and the rest of her squad's. The least he could do was show her some courtesy. "What I meant was that I literally cannot eat anything the way you do anymore because I no longer have a human digestive system; the only thing I can take as sustenance now is blood. However, I still appreciate your offer and if I ever do become human again, the first thing I would do is eat a big bowl of your curry."

Shinoa smiled as she put her hand on his. "It's ok, Mika, I understand. I have studied vampires for years but it looks like I still don't know everything about them. I've always known that they didn't need to eat food, not that they couldn't, even if they wanted. I will just take this as a learning experience so you don't need to apologize."

Mika shook his head. "No, I do. Not just for the food, I also want to apologize for my rudeness to you in the past; I realize that you were only trying to help me as well as Yuu. What I don't understand is why you are willing to forsake your allegiance to the demon army as well as your own family and stick your neck out for Yuu when there is nothing in it for you." Mika was lying; he already had a good idea why but wanted to hear it from the Hiragi girl's own mouth.

Shinoa blushed as she lowered her eyes again to avoid meeting the vampire's questioning gaze. "I had to, there was no other choice for me" she answered quietly.

"And why is that?" Mika pressed.

Shinoa was silent a moment before she forced herself to meet his eyes. "Because… I love him."

Upon hearing her answer, Mika felt a sense of relief wash over him now that he was certain the Hiragi girl wasn't interested in Yuu merely for his seraph powers.

"I'm really glad to hear that, Shinoa."

"You are?" she asked in surprised confusion.

"Yes" Mika said as he gently raised her hand to his lips. "I am grateful that there is at least one person I can trust with my brother's well-being."

Shinoa gently took her hand back before taking Mika's face in both of her hands. "Mikaela, you can trust all of us, not just me. We care for Yuichiro as well as anyone else he holds dear; we would never betray him…or you. If you believe nothing else I say, please believe that."

"I do… Yuichiro is the closest I've ever had to a brother of my own. Did he ever tell you about the time we had tried to escape our captivity by the vampires in Sanguinem when we were kids?"

Shinoa nodded as she let go of his face. "He mentioned it though he did not go into much detail except that it was a disaster; I've always assumed it wasn't something he was comfortable talking about so I never pressed him out of respect for his grief and privacy. I'm sure it had a lot to do with his feelings of survivor's guilt because he thought he was the only one who made it out alive."

"There is no reason for Yuu to feel guilty about anything. The whole thing was my idea. I was the one who stole the gun and map from Ferid Bathory's mansion and proposed that we escape with the rest of our family. I knew Yuu had his doubts but still went along with my plan; he trusted me and I let him down. Not only that, I also got our other brothers and sisters killed as well and for the rest of my life, I will live with that guilt. I was young, reckless, and stupid and I made a horrible mistake. I just don't want Yuu to pay for it any more than he already has. Do you understand, Shinoa?"

Shinoa was silent for a moment as she slowly processed Mika's words. "Yes…I do. But we all make mistakes, Mikaela, it's a fact of life and part of being human."

"Some mistakes can never be fixed."

"I can't argue with that. Even so, you must still at least try to move on. I'm sure your brothers and sisters would want you to go on with your life and be happy."

"I don't deserve it… but thank you."

Shinoa wanted to protest but she knew it would be pointless. She really hoped that someday Mika will be able to let go of his feelings of guilt and self-loathing but for the moment thought it best to leave it at that and change the subject.

"Well thank you for believing in me, Mikaela. Its means a great deal to me. Let's go get the others before the food goes cold, shall we?

Before Mika could answer, he and Shinoa was startled to see Yuu, who was now fully awake, walk into the dining room in his pajamas and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Yuu, you're finally awake!" Mika cried as he ran to his brother and took him in a fierce hug.

"Mika? Shinoa? Where am I? What happened? How did I end up here?"

"First things, first" Shinoa began "We're about to have dinner. Please get changed and I will explain everything."

"Changed?" Yuu looked down and realized for the first time that he was not in his black demon army uniform. "Oh, well I would if I had anything else to wear."

"Don't worry about that, I've brought some new clothes for you" Shinoa assured. "Mika, I left the clothes in the closet of Yuu's new room. Help him get dressed before the others get here."

Upon hearing her words, Yuu blushed as he shook himself out of his brother's grasp. "Uh, no thank you, I'm perfectly capable of dressing myself. Now if you'll excuse me!" Before Mika or Shinoa could say another word, the object of their concern dashed out of the dining room to get changed. After Yuu was gone, the Hiragi girl could not help but smile. Now that he was finally awake, things were starting to look up and somehow, she knew Mikaela felt the same.

A/N: Whew, chapter two done! This one came out faster than I thought; I hope I've kept both Mika and Shinoa IC. Please let me know what you think!