Just as predicted, Yuu did not take to the news of Guren's capture well at all.

It had taken both Mika and Kimizuki to restrain him, as his gut instinct had been to attempt to grab Asuramaru and then run out the door to who-knows-where. Kimizuki had nearly managed to corner him when he'd bolted for the door, but it had been Mika's omega speed and vampire senses that had managed to pin him down until Yuu had calmed down.

And even then, calmer, with Mika's soothing pheromones and soft purr keeping his panic from rising again, it had been a struggle to make him see reason. Guren needed their help, he insisted. They needed to get him back right now.

It was only when Narumi had slapped him across the face and screamed at him that they didn't need anymore dead bodies that he had finally subsided. Mika had nearly taken his hand off for that one, but even he could see how much Yuu had needed that to think logically.

He could also see the way Yuu struggled to force down tears, the way he shivered violently at the thought of Guren in the hands of the vampires. Losing someone close to him seemed far worse to him than the thought of his own death. Mika had watched him tremble and had swallowed down a surge of guilt and self-loathing, all too aware that the reason why Yuu felt that way could be traced directly back to memories of little bodies broken and bleeding on cold marble floors, memories of abandonment and loss that would not have been so had Mika thought a little bit harder before he'd acted.

(My fault. All my fault. I'm so, so sorry.)

Shinoa had eventually managed to gather the group together long enough to be able to explain the situation and their plan to Yuu, clarifying some of the details that had been left to be resolved until he woke up. They were, she said, going to lie low until the revolution in the vampire capitol would be resolved, or at least be settled enough for them to be able to sneak into Sanguinem without being met with war. Until then, they were officially deserters, and would have to avoid the army at all costs.

Yuu had asked what would happen if they were caught.

Shinoa had replied that he didn't want to know.

.

.

.

That had been three weeks ago.

Now, they were six miles of forest and two cities over, and Mika could not be more frustrated with the stagnancy of life, with how little he knew what was coming their way. They had stuck to the cities so that he could watch the vampire patrols and thus glean any information of the fate of Krul through irregularities in the system, but everything remained on schedule. Every day and night, when Mika would scale the ruins, heeding the prickling warning in his skin that told him of the proximity of another vampire, the patrols would be on time. On time, with the correct units and correct number of bloodsuckers doing their rounds, the lazy boredom in their long, loping strides indicative of the monotony of their lives.

Mika hated it.

He should know of the conflict in Sanguinem by now. Ferid must have had plenty of opportunities to dethrone Krul right now; the lack of change in the procedures didn't make any sense. He'd sat by Krul's side and mingled with the nobles long enough to know that a change in the hierarchy should have caused a change in the lower levels. Mika himself had overheard Ferid rousing support from his subordinates by declaring that he would change the patrols from routine sweeps to hunting units, feeding off the humans hiding in the city that could not be driven into obedience. Had he overthrown Krul, even recently, the change should have been evident by now.

Of course, there was a part of Mika that very strongly wished against it. Krul had made him what he was, but she had also been a rock in the four years of hell that had marked his fledgling years. She had treated him with kindness, had supported him and defended him and comforted him when he needed it the most. He was somewhat reluctant to admit it, but without Krul's orders and stability he felt restless and uncertain, so unused to making his own decisions that without her surefooted authority, he felt like something about him had been set adrift, like a bird that had flown so far from the nest that it had no idea how to get back on its own.

Yoichi had told him that was normal. Apparently, omegas had a strong pack-dependency instinct that meant that they oftentimes felt flighty and restless without someone to tell them what to do. He was just learning to settle in with the rest of the squad, the omega reassured him. That feeling would disappear soon.

Mika wasn't too sure about that- as his progenitor, he had had a respect for Krul that couldn't compare to the so-called 'authority' this rabble of teenagers could stir up- but he couldn't exactly deny the truth behind Yoichi's statements, either. After all, he had spent almost all of his research on his own dynamic focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of an omega body. He didn't know nearly enough about his own psychology to deny the claims of an omega who grew up normal.

"Miiikaaa!"

Speak of the devil.

The vampire turned from his perch in the window and frowned as Yoichi came racing up the stairs to the apartment complex, running through the broken entryway so fast he clipped his shoulder on the remains of the door still hanging in place and tumbled to the ground, rolling a good three feet before he recovered. A banging noise from below, followed by a heavy panting, alerted Mika to the cause of his distress; he rolled his eyes and sighed in irritation as Yuu flopped through the door and Yoichi dived for his legs, hiding behind him like a frightened pup as the alpha growled and bared his teeth at him.

Mika cleared his throat and raised his eyebrow, and, with a yelp, Yuu scrambled up, giving Mika a sheepish grin. Mika's heart fluttered at the sight- Yuu was utterly endearing when he was in trouble- but he kept his scolding glare carefully in place, knowing that Yoichi wouldn't stop trembling until Mika had found the root of the problem.

At least he wasn't trying to touch him. Training Yoichi out of trying to give him the same affection as the rest of the squad had been a procedure involving more fangs and hissing than he was sure they were comfortable with.

"And what, may I ask, is going on?" A pair of crossed arms ought to do the trick, and they did, Yuu gulping audibly at the movement. "I thought you were out searching for supplies."

"And we were!" Yuu protested, lifting his hands in a what-can-you-do gesture. Mika tilted his head skeptically, but didn't interrupt. "We found a shitton of stuff- beer, canned pineapple, some weird gas masks from a costume shop- but then Yoichi found some fake fangs and thought they were funny, and, well- I got a little irritated."

Yuu scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Mika blinked in surprise, and Yoichi, still tucked firmly in the corner, made a soft squeaking noise Mika thought was supposed to be apologetic.

"Sorry, Mikaela," he murmured, meeting Mika's inquisitive stare with a shy glance of his own. "I thought maybe you could get a joke out of it."

"As if!" Yuu huffed and stormed over, ducking down between Mika's legs to glare at the omega behind them. Mika gripped the windowsill and cursed softly under his breath as he tipped, then kicked Yuu in the ribs with the side of his heel lightly to try to get him back up, a cue that the alpha either missed or chose to ignore. "What if you grew a pair of fangs and needed to suffer by on borrowed blood because some idiot left you behind to die? It's not funny, Yoichi!"

The other omega's muttered 'sorry' went unnoticed as Mika stiffened and stared down at Yuu, heart pounding hard in his throat. The alpha was completely serious- Mika could see the tension in his back, the way he clenched his jaw as if in pain. He could scent the rage and commanding dominance in his scent, a powerful command meant to put Yoichi in place, to defend Mika's honor.

He still blamed himself for this mess. Mika's legs tightened minutely as a funny sensation fluttered in his stomach, sorrow mingled with something else, and, with a belated twinge of horror, remembered that omegas had scent glands on the inside of their thighs meant specifically to mark an alpha as theirs during their heat.

Oops.

He shoved Yuu backwards with one foot, the sound of his racing heart nearly masking the oblivious alpha's squawk of offense, and pressed his legs together, all-too aware of the tingle of warmth racing down his spine at the thought of him marking Yuu. He took a shuddering breath and glanced back at Yoichi, who gave him a worried, pitying look, then looked away, not wanting to come to terms with what had just happened.

Yuu was too busy rubbing his back and groaning to have noticed the slight rise in Mika's scent, but he knew that the omega under him had. Yoichi had stuck to him like glue since they'd met up despite Mika's protests- he would have to be noseblind to have missed a cue like that.

Mika took a deep, shuddering breath and gripped the windowsill underneath him tighter, not noticing when the rotting wood cracked under his hands.

Might as well diffuse this situation while I have the chance.

"Yoichi," he said calmly, forcing his racing heart to settle. "Give me those fangs."

"What?!" Yuu scrambled to his feet, bruised tailbone apparently forgotten. "Mika, I'm sorry, you don't have to play along with him, I should have grabbed them-"

Mika raised one eyebrow, then plucked the pack of cheap fake fangs from Yoichi's trembling fingers. He pulled a couple out, studied them silently, then, with Yuu's protests still ringing weakly in his ears, stuck them on.

The plastic triangles tasted horrible, and looked almost comical next to the gleaming-sharp points of his real fangs, but he still studied his reflection in the back of the packaging with exaggerated seriousness, angling his head this way and that to see them from all sides. He could feel Yoichi trembling with laughter underneath him, trying as hard as he could to suppress his giggles, even as Yuu's eyes widened with shock and surprised delight.

He hadn't teased anybody in a while. Mika felt something in his chest lighten, the familiar teasing spirit ghosting through him again, and, with a considering hum, he nodded slightly and gave the pack back.

"Horrible quality," he pronounced, lisping slightly. Six fangs were way harder to talk with than four. "There's no way these things can pierce flesh. No lower vestigial fangs, either. How to these people think they're going to hunt? With crossed fingers?" He tipped his head up in mockery of the ancient nobles and huffed, hooking both fake and real fangs over his bottom lip as he scowled. "It's like they didn't even know vampires existed at all."

Silence reigned for a few heartbeats.

Then, with a wheezing cough, Yuu started laughing. He doubled over, cackling madly, and Yoichi joined in with him, finally crawling out from behind Mika's protection so he could join Yuu, dumping the fake fangs back into the bags of carried supplies. Mika grinned, feeling the false teeth poke into his lower lip as he did so, and watched the two laugh with adoring eyes.

Yes, he still felt trapped, his restless energy not yet dissipated by the jest. But the sight of Yuu laughing and smiling, looking for all the world like war had never touched him, was enough.

"I heard something about vampires?" Shinoa popped her head into the room and grinned devilishly, an assortment of fancily-decorated pillows strapped to her back. Mitsuba shoved past her and rolled her eyes, setting down her bag full of canned foods next to Yuu's with a clang. "Did Yuu go off in a rage again, or did our dear Mika end up hanging from the ceiling fan again?"

Mika felt his ears burn with embarrassment and tugged at his hair to make sure they were properly hidden, glaring at Shinoa with undisguised menace. The ceiling-fan incident had been one of the most embarrassing moments in his life; once, when Narumi had tried to rouse him from his slumber, he had momentarily forgotten where he was and had jumped about fifteen feet in the air, draping him firmly over the huge fan rusted to the ceiling, which then proceeded to spin at full speed with him still clinging onto it. It had taken quite a bit of coaxing and quite a lot of laughing from Yuu to finally get him down- apparently he looked quite ridiculous when he hung from something like a great blonde bat, clicking and screeching like the terrified vampire he was.

It hadn't been his best moment, that was for sure.

He didn't realize he was baring his fangs until Shinoa took note of the two extra points in his mouth. She jumped, eyeing his teeth in surprise, then glanced between him and Yuu and grinned.

"What's this? Got tired of your pigstickers and decided to add a couple more?" She plucked the package of fake fangs from Yoichi's pile and rattled them teasingly, eyeing them like she was contemplating putting on a pair herself. "Trying to appease someone's biting kink without scaring them away with your great big vampire fangs, hmm~?"

She gave Yuu a sly glance when she said that, grinning for reasons that Mika wasn't quite sure he wanted to decipher.

"What're you looking at me like that for?" Yuu stood taller and puffed out his chest, obviously seeing her suggestive look as a challenge. Mika groaned and plucked the fake fangs off his lateral incisors, flicking them somewhere down to the streets below.

I'm surrounded by idiots.

Yoichi gave him a sympathetic glance and hurried out the door to aid Narumi and Kimizuki as they thumped up the stairs, obviously weighed down by the brunt of their search. Shinoa glanced back at him, then looked back at Yuu, who now had his fists up in the air and was hopping around like an excited rabbit, his pheromones thick with anticipation of a fight.

"Are you really that stupid?" The female alpha laughed and started to circle, her own scent sharpening in anticipation. Yuu growled, hot and angry, and the two fingers Mika had been using to pinch the bridge of his nose moved down, sealing off his nostrils as the pheromones of two roused alphas in the air thickened unbearably.

For fuck's sake.

It was only a half-effective gesture. While he couldn't scent them nearly as strongly as he could before, he could still hear the sound of their voices, the snarls and taunting bribes deepening their words until they rumbled in their chests, more animal than human. He could still taste them, aggression and dominance tainting the air, and though he was still on suppressants, they were old and faded and already almost out of his system, and they did nothing to quell the fluttering desire in his chest and his stomach that urged him to run, to taunt and tease the two alphas in front of him until they chased him and one of them (Mika knew all too clearly who) caught him and pinned him and-

He twisted abruptly and gasped out into the clear, cold air rushing by the open window, desperately trying to purge both his lungs and mind of the heat rushing through him.

...Maybe he could risk another vial tonight.

"Alright, alright, stop it already!" Mitsuba popped out of another room- where had she disappeared off to?- and slammed Shinoa against a wall, snarling in irritation. The sharp, neutral taint of a beta's calming scent permeated the air, diffusing the fog of alpha pheromones, and Mika turned back carefully, watching with steadily-mounting irritation as Narumi cuffed Yuu around the ears, ignoring the alpha's outraged shriek of pain. "It stinks in here! We're supposed to sleep in here, Shinoa, not watch as you and Yuu try to prove who's the most immature squadmate in the room!"

Shinoa blinked, then grinned flirtily at her, bracing herself up against the wall like she'd been planning being pinned all along. Mika snorted and dropped out of the windowsill, padding over so he could take over Narumi's place in calming a very angry Yuu. "Aww, but what would be the fun in that, Mitsu? Our resident idiot needs to know his place, after all. And he's the one who started it, not me."

Mitsuba's sharp remark went unnoticed. Mika was entirely focused on watching Yuu as he bickered and struggled with Narumi, not sure whether or not he should approach.

Narumi was older than him, and still smelled of displacement, his posture screaming how he was still not quite comfortable with being in this pack. But he was still more a part of Yuu's life and Mika's squad than Mika had been in their four years apart, and the familiarity with which he handled a squirming teenage alpha showed it.

The omega gulped and hovered silently in the shadows, fixing on the wrestling pair as he decided what to do. Narumi had Yuu by the ear and hadn't noticed Mika yet, far too focused on yelling at him to spot the omega vampire lingering someplace he obviously didn't want to be seen.

"We have omegas here, you idiot!" An empathetic shake and a squeak of pain from Yuu roused a snarl from Mika's throat, but it went unnoticed as Yuu continued to yowl in irritation, spluttering something about Shinoa asking for it. Narumi disregarded his excuses and responded by thickening his scent, his fully-developed beta pheromones able to neutralize Yuu's young alpha scent. "Do you want to set one of them off into a heat? Suppressants only do so much when you're flashing around your dominance, you know. Do you want our archer incapacitated because you didn't know how to pick your battles? How about your vampire friend, huh? What's his name- Mikaela? He's barely medicated. The last thing we need is for something like that to go into heat, especially when we have no way to restrain him."

Yuu blinked up at him, suddenly concerned. Mika could see the way realization and slight panic dawned on his face as he processed Narumi's words, the responsibility of his actions finally weighing on him.

That was the last straw.

Mika pushed into the space between the alpha and the beta, growling possessively. He could hear his heart beat harder in his chest, a harsh, throbbing rhythm both spurred by the fear of Yuu being burdened with the thought of triggering his heat and with the instinctual panic that came from challenging a higher dynamic.

Narumi dropped Yuu like he was poison and backed away, disgust twisting his face as Mika flashed his fangs at him. Yuu stumbled, and Mika caught him, barely moving as the alpha's full weight crashed up against him.

Yuu blinked up at him, concerned, but Mika didn't move. He was too focused on the tension trembling through his body as he stood his ground, eyes locked with Narumi's coldly inquisitive stare, trying to ignore how every instinct in his body screamed at him to back down.

Don't tell him what he doesn't need to know. He doesn't need to worry about things that he shouldn't be forced to care about.

"...Tch." Narumi broke his gaze and looked out the window, obviously uncomfortable with the intensity behind Mika's glare. "I stand corrected. It's a miracle he hasn't gone into heat already."

The beta stalked off, moving back to the middle of the room to work on sorting through their gathered supplies. Yuu watched him go, confused, and let Mika help him balance once it became apparent that his struggles had half-kicked off one of his boots.

"...What was that for?" Yuu tugged his boot back into place and massaged his ear, wincing slightly. Mika watched as he slid white-gloved fingers along the side of his neck and swallowed hard, trying to focus on the way Yuu was frowning instead of the way his blood pulsed through his veins.

It didn't work very well. Yuu's lips looked extremely kissable when they were pouted like that.

"It's nothing." Mika's voice came out harsher than expected, but he ignored it; it concealed the mess of emotions and panic that were still stirring under his skin. "He thinks he knows the bodies of omegas better than we do."

Yuu frowned at him, saddened by the bitterness in his tone, but didn't say anything. Instead, he leaned to the side and bumped Mika's shoulder with his, completely oblivious to the way the friendly touch sent a cascade of nervous sparks down his best friend's spine.

Breathe, Mika. You're used to Yuu touching you. You did it all the time. Now's not any different-

Yuu smiled at him gently.

...Dammit.

"Hey, wanna help sort out canned goods with us?" Yuu didn't wait for an answer; he was already tugging Mika along with him, one hand on his back guiding him forward. "You may have different...dietary concerns, but you're better at checking expiration dates than I am! The stupid fine print gets me everytime."

Warm affection overtook the nervous jitters, and Mika smiled back at the alpha guiding him, amused and slightly exasperated by his educational shortcomings. Typical Yuu, too busy focusing on fighting to worry about enhancing his reading skills.

Mika found he didn't quite mind. Someone had to be the smart one, after all.

"How did you pass your exams, again?" Mika plucked one of Shinoa's decorative pillows off the pile and thwapped Yuu with it, grinning at the startled "Mmmph!" it got him. "You idiot. You can't defeat us until you're well-versed in Latin and whatever other nonsense language we've dreamed up, that's a rule."

"He didn't!" Shinoa hollered gleefully, still being chocked by Mitsuba. The alpha looked like she was fully enjoying herself, kicking playfully at the beta's legs in an attempt to tangle them together and knock them down. "He failed all his exams! Perfect zeros! Most impressive thing I've seen in a while!"

Mika turned to Yuu and gave him a mock-disappointed look, swinging the pillow between them contemplatively.

Yuu gulped.

And then, in a heartbeat, he was off, crashing through the carefully-constructed pyramid of goods between Narumi and Kimizuki in a mad dash for the door. Both alpha and beta turned to yell at him, Yoichi jumping out of his way as he passed, but it only took one bound for Mika to clear the chaos, slipping through the ruined doorway as silent as a shadow.

Shinoa cackled madly from behind them as he dashed out into the hallway.

Yuu's panicked gasps were laced with laughter as he leapt down the staircase to the ground below, throwing a taunting look up to where Mika perched on the rail, watching him fondly. He grinned, his mouth forming the shape of the words of his call- the sound lost in the thud of his boots over the concrete- a quick 'try to catch me, Mika!' thrown to the omega steadily descending the staircase towards him.

And then he was gone, disappeared into the maze of rubble, leaving only the thud of his boots and the faint trail of his scent behind him.

Mika smiled, then took the bait and broke out into a run, chasing him down.

Oh, I'll catch you for sure, you stupid sweet idiot of an alpha.