Disclaimer: I do not own Owari no Seraph (Seraph of the End). I write this for your enjoyment only. This is an alternate version of chapter 40 of the manga and episode 24 of the anime where Yuu finally reunites with Guren and discovers that there is something completely different and wrong with him. On another note, I apologize if my fight scenes are less than spectacular since I'm not particularly good at writing them but I'm still learning. Anyway, enjoy and please review!

Trust and Betrayal

We're definitely going through this without anyone else dying! Yuichiro thought as she, along with Mika and the rest of Shinoa's squad, fought their way past soldiers of both the human and vampire armies who were under orders to capture her.

So consumed was she with the thought of escaping the chaos that the ravenette failed to notice that she was starting to run too far ahead of her friends and away from their protection. However, Kimizuki immediately notices and shouts at her to slow down but not before Yuichiro notices a familiar figure in the distance and grinds to a stop. At first, the ravenette thought it was her imagination but upon closer inspection, she saw that the person standing before her was the very one she had been searching for since they were forced to part days earlier after his capture by Crowley Eusford and her foiled attempt to rescue him.

"Guren?" Yuichiro asked, bewildered.

Her handsome guardian and mentor smiled as if he had been standing there, waiting for her all along. "Yuichiro... I'm so glad to see you're safe! What are you just standing there for? Aren't you going to give me a hug?"

Under normal circumstances, the ravenette might have jumped into his arms but this time, Yuu noticed that something was a little off about Guren; his smile seemed distorted and a little sinister, nothing like the warm smile she was used to seeing him give her when praising her for a job well done. Not only that, his eyes had red rims around the violet irises that seemed to glow with an eerie light. When he noticed that his ward had not made any attempt to move, the lieutenant colonel opened his arms and made a beckoning gesture.

"What's wrong, Yuichiro? Aren't you glad to see me? You've been looking for me all this time and now here I am. So be a good girl and come here..." he cooed.

Although every instinct she had screamed at her to stay away, Yuichiro found herself slowly moving forward as she tried to remind herself that this was Guren Ichinose, the man who rescued and took her under his wing after she had escaped vampire captivity in Sanguinem almost five years ago. But even so, the ravenette could still sense that something was not right and could not shake the feeling that she might be walking into a trap.

As he saw her approach, Guren's smile grew wider. "Yes! Come closer, Yuu!" he urged.

The older man's tone finally made Yuu stop in her tracks and reconsider her decision to grant his request which was starting to sound more like an order. When he noticed her taking a step back, the lieutenant colonel quickly withdrew his sword and charged forward with a speed that would have been impossible for an ordinary human. Before Yuichiro could make a run for it, he quickly grabbed her by the shoulder and forced her to turn around. As soon as Guren had his ward secure against his chest with one arm, the older man quickly raised his sword with the other and pressed the blade against her throat.

"Don't move" he hissed into her ear.

"What do you think you're doing, Guren!?" Yuichiro cried, shocked at what Guren had just done.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one; Mika and Shinoa, as well as the rest of her squad were shocked as well, their superior officer's unexpected action making them freeze in their tracks, not daring to do anything out of fear that he would hurt Yuu.

"Lieutenant colonel, what is the meaning of this!?" Shinoa demanded as she made a gesture with her arm for her squad to stay back.

Instead of answering, Guren pressed his sword's blade against Yuu's throat slightly, inserting just enough pressure to nick her alabaster skin and make her bleed a little. Mikaela gritted his teeth when he heard his adoptive sister wince in pain and tightened his grip on his sword when he saw Yuu's blood trickle down her throat to stain the collar of her uniform.

"Let her go, human!" he snarled.

Guren smirked as he tightened his hold on Yuichiro. "Not a chance, vampire, she's coming with me. I do appreciate you bringing her here but as you can see, your assistance is no longer required."

"Everyone, be careful; the lieutenant colonel is possessed!" Shinoa warned when she finally realized what was going on. The Hiragi girl felt stupid for not realizing it sooner: her superior officer was possessed by the demon bound to his sword, Shinoa's own late elder sister, Mahiru Hiragi. Mikaela, on the other hand, could care less and ignored Shinoa's warning. Before anyone could stop him, Mika charged forward, intending to take Yuu back by force, something Guren easily saw it coming and quickly flung his ward behind him, making sure she was beyond the reach of Mikaela and the rest of Shinoa's squad before turning around and meeting the blond vampire's sword with his own.

When their blades met, Guren easily held his ground which startled Mika because he was sure he put more than enough force behind his attack to knock over an ordinary man. Not only that, the lieutenant colonel also grabbed Mika's left wrist with his free hand and pulled the vampire to him with ease.

"Give it up, vampire" Guren hissed in Mika's ear as soon as he was close enough. "Yuichiro is mine. She belongs to me."

The blond vampire gritted his teeth as he struggled to break free of the older man's iron hold. "Never!" he snarled. "Over my dead body!"

Guren laughed as if that was the funniest thing he ever heard. "As you wish!" he said gleefully as he released Mika and prepared to attack again.

As they watched the blond vampire and demon-possessed lieutenant colonel clash swords, Shinoa and the rest of her squad found themselves at a total loss as to what to do. The Hiragi girl wanted to use the distraction Mikaela provided to rescue Yuichiro but found that it was impossible to reach her from the squad's current position without going through the two men fighting in front of them first. And even though Mikaela was now a complete vampire with the blood of third progenitor, Krul Tepes, in his veins, Guren was the more experienced fighter and his enhanced demonic strength made him more than capable of fighting the blond on equal terms. And he had no intention of ever letting Mika take Yuu back.

Yuichiro groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. The first thing the ravenette noticed when she came to was how her left hip ached terribly and wondered how it came to be when she suddenly remembered how her guardian had taken her hostage against Mikaela, Shinoa, and the rest of her friends after she foolishly obeyed his request to come to him and by the time she realized something was wrong, it was too late. Sitting up, Yuichiro gasped when she saw the surreal scene before her:

Guren Ichinose and Mikaela Hyakuya, the two men she cared about most in the world, were fighting. And it looked like they intend to fight to the death.

"Guren! Mika! Please stop it!" Yuichiro cried.

As soon as she opened her mouth and called to her guardian and adopted brother, she immediately wished she hadn't for Yuu's voice distracted Mika for a moment and that was long enough for Guren to break through his defenses and plunge his sword into the vampire's chest, just as Mika had done to him when they fought for the first time in Shinjuku.

"MIKA!" Yuu screamed, forgetting everything else that was going on around them and quickly got up. She had to stop Guren before he activated the curse on his demon sword and killed her brother.

Knowing what his sister intended to do, Mika cried out for her to stop. "Yuu-chan, no!"

As soon as he heard Mika call out to Yuu, Guren quickly dislodged his sword from the vampire's chest and spun around to face his ward who had just unsheathed her own sword, Asuramaru, and assumed a fighting stance as if ready to challenge him.

"I am very sorry, Guren, but I cannot let you harm Mikaela" Yuichiro said in the most calm voice she could muster. Upon seeing his ward take the stance that himself had taught her, Guren grinned and laughed as if he found her challenge amusing rather than intimidating.

"Do you really think you could beat me, Yuichiro? I was the one who taught you everything you know about sword fighting!"

The ravenette shook her head. "Not everything", she said defiantly.

Even though she tried to sound confident, everyone present could tell that Yuichiro was really frightened. This was not like the times she and her guardian had sparred when he was teaching her the way of the sword. She was seriously ready to fight him to the death to protect the boy she loved.

As if reading her mind, Guren asked "Can you do it, Yuichiro? Can you really bring yourself to kill me?"

For a moment, the ravenette thought she saw a hint of sadness in her guardian's violet eyes, eyes that looked as if they could see into her soul through her eyes. Guren knew his ward well, knew that even if she could fight him, she would not be able to kill him. Despite their shaky history together and the fact that he admitted he saved her because he desired her powers, Yuichiro still cared about him and they both knew it.

When he saw her hesitating to answer, the lieutenant colonel lowered his sword and offered her his hand. "Come with me, Yuichiro", he said gently. "If you obey, I will not harm Mika and we won't have to fight."

Before Yuichiro could answer, she heard Shinoa calling out to her. "No, don't listen to him, Yuu! Guren is not himself; he's possessed by his demon, possessed by my sister! You can't trust him as he is now!"

As soon as she heard her squad leader's warning, the ravenette resumed her stance. Knowing that his ward will not yield to him after what she had just heard, Guren decided that he would have to take her by force after all. Forgetting Mikaela, the lieutenant colonel raised his sword again as if to accept Yuichiro's challenge when he heard Kureto Hiragi's voice calling out to him.

"Guren, it's starting!"

Forgetting his ward for the moment, the lieutenant colonel raised his sword to the sky, the demon markings appearing on his skin as he prepared to do his cousin's bidding, ordering his sword to drink the blood of the surrounding humans, vampires, and demons alike. Yuu, Mika, and the rest of Shinoa's squad as well as soldiers from both the human and vampire armies watched in awe and horror as chains emerged from the large mysterious crate Kureto had brought out into the battlefield and pierced the bodies of the fallen soldiers of both sides. With a loud explosion, the box collapses and what emerged from it was...was...

An abomination.

A/N: Ok, I've decided to this snippit here instead of rewriting the Nagoya Airport battle because I prefer to avoid spoilers for those who haven't reached that point in the manga/anime yet. I hope my readers like my version of the confrontation between Guren and fem Yuu. :) I really think that if he was female, Yuu might develop some semi-romantic feelings for her guardian since he's such a good-looking guy not much older than her lol. In my opinion, fem Yuu would be in love with Mika but still have a crush on Guren.