Shinoa, he soon learned, was the leader. The pink-haired alpha's name was Kimizuki, the chestnut-haired omega Yoichi, and the two betas (both alpha borderliners) were Mitsuba and Narumi.
Narumi, Shinoa explained, had lost his squad to vampires when they were leaving Crowley's territory, which was why he was with them. Mika didn't really care- the obvious hostility in Narumi's gaze had abolished any sympathy he might have had for him.
Not that he had any sympathy for any of them in the first place.
Which was an uncomfortable position for him to be in, because they obviously had a lot of sympathy for him. Shinoa and Yoichi especially- he kept catching them watching the way he held Yuu close, tracking every little bit of movement from the way he'd play with his hair to the times when he'd rest his cheek against his forehead, cooing softly to the alpha in his arms.
He'd growled at them twice, completely unapologetic for his behavior. Yuu was his best friend and his only family, and he hadn't seen him or touched him this extensively in four fucking years. If they had a problem with him coddling him, then they would just have to deal with it.
Not that they'd actually said anything about it yet. Shinoa seemed to be focusing her energies into trying to persuade him to stay, which he could admit was an admirable effort, considering the fact that there was nothing more than he wanted to do than to take Yuu and run away, as far and as fast from this place as he could.
"So as we were saying, Mikaela, we've actually been thinking about the possibility of leaving the army for a while now." Shinoa spun her ribbon between her fingers as she spoke, hair still loose over her shoulders. Mika suspected that she was trying to act casually so that he would feel more comfortable around her, but it wasn't working. "We knew that the lieutenant colonel had ties to the experimentation on Yuu for about a week now, but what happened during the fight only confirmed it. By all means, Yuu should have died when he took those pills- something kept him alive, something more powerful than his demon."
Mika buried his nose in Yuu's ruffled locks, struggling to keep his panic down. Yuu was alive, he was breathing, his heart was beating- but he still felt chills run down his spine when he thought of how close to death he had come.
I can't lose him again.
"So you mean to tell me," he said, fighting to keep the rage out of his voice, though it wasn't working very well. "That you didn't stop him from taking those pills, knowing full well that they would have killed him?"
"No, no Mikaela, that's not it." Shinoa frowned at him, a little irritated. "We tried to stop him, but that idiot swallowed them before we could get him to give them up. You probably know how just how impulsive can be."
Mika hummed, frowning at the slumbering alpha in his arms. He knew all to well that that would be something that Yuu would do, but he didn't want to admit that Shinoa was right.
...God, he was getting as prideful as the other vampires.
"…What did he say when he woke up?" Mika contented himself with running his fingers through Yuu's hair, stupidly enchanted with the choppy black locks and the way they resolutely refused to stay down, no matter how many times he tried to tame them. "You said he was conscious for a while before he passed out again. I want to know exactly what he said in that time limit so that I may guess just what the experiments that were run on the both of us might have pertained."
And whether you're trustworthy enough to bother staying around, he thought, meeting Shinoa's level gaze with a cold glare. The only reason why I haven't run yet is because you know more about Yuu's reactions at this moment than I do. If I leave now, before he wakes up, then there's a chance that something may happen to him on the run that I can't help him with.
But you know that, don't you, alpha?
Shinoa watched him uneasily, fiddling with the ribbon in her hands. Mika narrowed his eyes, instincts honing in on her nervous habit. He'd heard that omegas were uncannily good at reading body language, but he hadn't thought much of it until now, when every nervous tick or shift of the humans in front of him alerted him to their wary reluctance, so unlike the uncanny stillness of the vampires he had left behind.
She- they- don't want to tell me. They're not sure how I'm going to react.
With a start, he realized that he himself was posed like a predator; his breaths faint and even, his eyes unblinking, body tensed and wired to move. He didn't just look overprotective, like what he had thought; he looked like he was ready to kill, ready to pounce.
No wonder they're scared of me.
Still, he didn't move, some part of him whispering about the advantage it had over them- a group of vampire hunters, almost all of them dominant. He wasn't sure if it was the vampire part of him or the omega; either way, he listened.
If they respected him, then they were less likely to lie to him, for fear of their lives.
The thought left a sour taste in his mouth, and he frowned. He didn't care what they thought of him, but they were important to Yuu- for whatever reason. He should probably be nicer to them, if only for Yuu's sake.
...Maybe. He'll wait to see how Yuu reacted when he woke up.
Shinoa cleared her throat, tapping her fingers together. Mitsuba stepped forward and plucked the ribbon out of her hands, setting to work on re-braiding and tying her hair.
"...He woke up screaming about angels." Shinoa lightly stroked Mitsuba's arm, giving her a brief smile, then turned back to Mika and looked at him grimly. "I suspect he was in the middle of conversing with his demon, because once he noticed us, he started talking about saving Guren. Then he ran off to try to save him, completely ignoring what we were trying to say to him.'
Mika frowned at Yuu, silently chastising him, even though he knew that the alpha couldn't see or scent his disapproval. Then he rested his chin on his head, because the fact that Yuu was here for him to be able to look at him disapprovingly hit him with a wave of emotion. "I'm guessing he failed."
"Yuuuup," Shinoa said, popping the 'p'. She gave Yuu an exasperated look of her own, and Mika felt a weird mixture of appreciation and disapproval when he caught the affection in her gaze. "Guren is still in the hands of the vampires. Yuu won't be too happy when he finds out."
Mika made a noncommittal noise of acknowledgement, holding Yuu tighter. He already hated Guren, but he could tell that he had been important to Yuu- even though they had fought the last time he had seen them. Waking up to find out about losing him would probably hurt.
Well, that's why I'm here, he thought, tracing a finger over the seam of Yuu's uniform. I'm here now, Yuu. I'll help you get over Guren.
Shinoa watched them, then stepped forward, catching Mika's attention. "Would you know anything about that, Mikaela? Yuu told us that you were turned by force, but-"
"If he was captured by Crowley, then he's likely not coming back," Mika said harshly, irritated by her approach and the casual mention of his loss of humanity. The interruption sent a chill down his spine- speaking over an alpha just wasn't done- but he didn't care. "Crowley is loyal to whoever holds the most power in Sanguinem. With the current political crisis going on, your lieutenant is most likely going to be held in prison until the reigning vampire decides what to do with him."
Mika turned back to Yuu, oblivious to the shock that passed over Shinoa's face. Her scent changed, taking on a commanding, questioning aura, but he pointedly ignored it, pressing his nose to Yuu's scent glands to block her pheromones out.
A shiver of hunger and heat passed over him as he breathed in deep, and he clenched his fangs tight, grimly battling it down. He would have to drink a vial before Yuu woke up, and his scent could be matched with the overprotectiveness that the alpha had displayed on the battlefield. Mika didn't want to be thrown into the shadow of another heat cycle while Yuu was aware of what was going on.
He can't know how I react to him. Going into heat for him? That'll either make him feel like he has to help or it'll disgust him. I can't force him to do something he doesn't want just because I'm an omega.
Mika pulled back and brushed a lock of hair out of Yuu's face, feeling something heavy and cold settle in the pit of his stomach. Like this unconscious and free of worry, Yuu looked like an angel, perfect and untouched by the pains of the mortal world.
Looking at him left a fierce ache in his throat. Mika swallowed thickly, trying to convince himself that the pain in his throat was from bloodlust and not from longing for something that he could not possibly have.
"...Wait." Shinoa waved her hands, catching his attention again. This time, Mika really did snarl at her, but she was too alarmed to heed his anger. "Political crisis? What political crisis? Our intel didn't say anything about this."
Mika cringed. He wasn't supposed to tell the humans about Ferid's attempt to overthrow Krul, or hint to the likely chaos that would soon follow, regardless of the outcome of the fight.
Oops.
"...The seventh progenitor currently in Japan will make an attempt to overthrow the reign of the third progenitor at some point in the near future," Mika said, trying to keep his information as brief and informal as possible. It could be happening now. "No matter what happens, there's likely to be loyalty shifts within the ranks of the vampire nobles, and some degree of assassination, blackmailing, and treason, which will slow or change the process of the decision of what to do with your 'Guren'."
Yoichi gasped. The scents of the others rose as they listened- a confused, worried, enraged jumble- but Mika kept his gaze firmly on Shinoa, watching keenly as she processed the information.
The female alpha didn't meet his gaze. She was frowning at some point off in the distance, red-brown eyes calculative, deciding what to do and how to react. Mika watched her, and noted that she wasn't nearly as good as processing emotion as she thought. There was a definite pause between her thinking phase and her reaction phase as she struggled with it, like she wasn't used to feeling anything besides apathy.
...Interesting.
"What about the threat of the army?" She finally asked, looking back at him. There was a sternness to her gaze that he knew wasn't directed at him, but it made him bristle nonetheless. "If they kidnapped him, then surely they knew that he has a relatively high position in the military. Aren't they worried that they might try to take him back?"
Mika snorted. "Vampires aren't as concerned about the humans as you think. All they care about is the motives of the other bloodsuckers around them, and how best to stab them in the back."
Shinoa gave him a startled look, like she didn't expect him to talk about other vampires like that, but she didn't get a chance to ask him. The beta with the trident- Narumi- shoved past her, approaching Mika with a glare on his face.
Mika hunched closer over Yuu and hissed, baring his fangs at the borderliner, but Narumi didn't react to his distress pheromones like Shinoa and Kimizuki had. The beta hovered over him, glowering, and Mika trembled with the urge to run, to lash out, to get out from under the shadow of the threat.
Narumi didn't have the eyes, scent, or arrogance of an alpha, but he had the commanding stance and head tilt of one, and the confusion of the contrasting messages filled Mika with apprehension. He could barely hear Shinoa's voice behind Narumi, yelling at him to leave him alone; he was too focused on controlling himself, his vampire instincts clashing with his inner omega.
Lunge up. Bite him. Unsheathe your claws and put the human in its place.
Submit. Run. Stay down and protect your alpha. Get out of here.
Narumi payed no heed to the distress and hatred radiating off Mika or the frightened command in Shinoa's scent, holding her off with one hand. Yoichi started towards them, but Kimizuki held him back, not wanting the omega to get caught up in the drama.
"All of this talk about vampires and treachery is well and good, but I don't care about what's going to happen later." Narumi's amber eyes burned into Mika's icy blues, daring him to stand down. Mika gritted his teeth, but glared back, his fury the only thing keeping him from backing down. "Right now, I'm more concerned about the fact that a soldier under my protection is now in the arms of a vampire, whom we all seem prepared to trust, for some reason that is unfathomable to me."
"Yuu is my family," Mika hissed. He could understand the beta's concern, but the underlying implications- that he would hurt Yuu- made him furious. "I would never hurt him."
"Oh, really?" Narumi raised an eyebrow, unimpressed with Mika's display of aggression. "What about your thirst? You can't expect me to believe you will be able to survive on nothing. Sooner or later, you will need to feed. Where are you going to get the blood from, bloodsucker?"
Mika's thirst spiked at the beta's words- a speech so familiar by now that he had come to associate it with Ferid's taunting, with Krul's blood. He glared at him, then flipped the top of the satchel up, pulling out a vial.
You want to know whether I'm prepared or not? Joke's on you, beta. I've been preparing for this mission since I lost Yuu.
Narumi stared at him, startled. Mika huffed, grimly satisfied, then pulled out the stopper and took a swig.
The bitter chemical taste of the suppressants hit him instantly. Mika shuddered, cringing, but didn't stop drinking, the slight relief from the pain of his thirst overriding the sharp wrong taste of the pills.
He tipped his head back down, wiping his mouth, then froze. While he was occupied with drinking, Shinoa had manifested her weapon, using it to form a barrier between Narumi, him, and Yuu.
"He has adequate supplies," she said, meeting Narumi's gaze evenly. "And he fought us tooth- and- nail to take Yuu back, then proceeded to hold him, hiss at us, and scent him like we were the threats- which to him, we are. Or did you forget that we're an elite squad of vampire hunters that just so happens to belong to a military that does human experimentation?"
Mika stared at her in surprise, not expecting her to take his side. Shinoa glanced at him, then looked back to the beta, her gaze softening at the tension in his shoulders.
"Look," she said softly. "I know their loss still hurts you. Believe me, I know. But Mika wasn't there. He wasn't responsible. Don't turn your hurt and anger on him just because he's one of them."
Narumi glared at her, but his shoulders were trembling. Mika knew the expression on his face all too well- it was the look that Yuu used to give him back when they were kids, when something was hurting him but he didn't want to admit to Mika what was wrong.
The memory hurt him more than he thought it would.
I'm not going to feel sorry for a beta who just threatened me. I'm not going to feel sorry for a beta that's probably just manipulating Yuu.
Narumi stepped back, giving Mika a cursory glance. The omega tensed, ready for a fight, but there was no longer any anger in the beta's posture, and his eyes were filled with grim resolve rather than hostility.
"I apologize for my behavior." Narumi's tone was clipped and bitter. Mika watched as his eyes trailed over his fangs, his sunguard, the insignia on his uniform- all the little things that labeled him as a vampire, one of the creatures that had killed people that were important to him.
Mika grudgingly supposed that he could relate.
"I still don't trust you though," Narumi continued. Shinoa hissed, and he shot her a quelling glance, shrugging as if asking What? Did you expect me to play nice? "I wasn't briefed on their mission. It took me by surprise when they admitted that they were looking for you."
The beta's hard amber eyes found his again, studying him. "Perhaps you will be able to change that."
There was an underlying barb to Narumi's words: a quiet I doubt it expressed in the uplift of his chin, the set of his shoulders. It was a cue subtle enough to slip by the alphas watching, subtle enough for Shinoa, who was watching intently, to miss.
Mika wasn't fooled.
"Lucky for you, I don't trust you either." Mika rested Yuu's head on his shoulder and tipped his head up, mimicking the haughty, cold aura he had seen so extensively back at Sanguinem. "And it's going to take a hell of a lot of convincing for you to change that."
Narumi glared at him, irritated, but not surprised. Shinoa frowned at him, but swirled her scythe up and away from them, sensing that the worst of the danger had past.
"Trust or no trust, we need to figure out our plan of action." She looked back at the rest of her squad, silently asking them for assistance. "We agreed to stay loyal to the lieutenant colonel as long as we needed to find Mika, did we not? I can't quite remember what we decided to do once that objective was met."
Kimizuki sighed. "We didn't." He looked at the others, raising a dyed eyebrow. "Do you guys have anything to add?"
Narumi crossed his arms and frowned. Shinoa gave him a disappointed look, but the veteran only huffed and looked away. "Nothing on my part. I didn't know you guys had a goddamned objective. I thought you just wanted to kill bloodsuckers."
Mitsuba chuckled, giving Yuu (and him, Mika noted with surprise) a fond glance. "I think that plan was put on hold for now. We have more important things to worry about after all."
Kimizuki nodded. Yoichi pushed past the tall alpha, giving Mika a gentle smile. "Our plan was to save and protect our family. I'd say that we're following that strategy quite well right now."
I'm not your family, Mika wanted to scream, but there was a sweet kindness to Yoichi's smile that reminded him of the children back at the orphanage. Stop helping me.
Stop.
If Yoichi caught the confusuion and hurt in Mika's scent, he didn't show it. He flashed the omega another shy smile, then turned and pouted, sadness and disappointment spilling into his scent. "That is, if you guys could stop fighting each other!"
Mika flinched, preparing for an onslaught of worried pheromones from the alphas, but all they did was roll their eyes and laugh, patting the little omega on his back. Yoichi grinned, happiness and satisfaction returning to his scent as the tension in the air diffused.
How...?
Shinoa gave them a fond smile, then turned back to Mika. "Well, that settles it."
"Settles what?" Mika snapped, frustrated. The casual way that the squad was acting now- so like a family, so like a pack, was making him uneasy, reminding him just how much of an outsider he was to them- an outsider who had lost his own family, who was still drifting, his only place in the world wholly controlled by the slumbering alpha in his arms. "If you're going to keep talking about things without explaining them to me, then I'm going to take Yuu and leave right now-"
Shinoa laughed, jolting him out of his downward spiral of self-hatred with a burst of renewed irritation. He didn't even realize he was doing it- she'd saved him a nasty trip, without even realizing.
He growled at her for that, fully aware that his negative reaction to her aid was born of his own petulance at being soothed by an alpha other than Yuu, but she only smiled.
"That's the idea, actually." She spun her demon key playfully between her fingers, making it spark without manifesting her weapon. He could still tell she wasn't fully comfortable with him, but she grinned at him nonetheless, a rebellious light shining in her eyes.
Mika recognized that light. He was already regretting staying to listen to her speak.
"We're running away from the army, like you wanted. But this time, we're going to do it together- all of us, as a single squad."
She spread her arms and stood proudly, beaming at him. "Welcome to the family, Hyakuya Mikaela!"
