As the final traces of black smoke trickled into the air, and the last embers sizzled away, Yuichiro allowed himself to take a deep breath. The vampire's dying screeches were swept away by the wind. Yuu smirked and sheathed his sword, satisfied now that the fighting had concluded.
"We won," someone murmured a few feet away. "We beat them." The voice belonged to a girl from one of the other squads that had joined Yuu and his friends for the assault on the vampire nobles. He wasn't surprised to see that she was shaking with shock and gratitude, because he felt relief washing over him too. However, when she ran into a young man's arms to embrace him and kiss him passionately, the naïve teenager was absolutely dumbfounded.
This girl just survived an intense, gruesome battle, and the first thing she decided to do was run and kiss somebody?
"Adults are weird," Yuu muttered under his breath. He assumed that he was too quiet for anyone to hear him, but a soft chuckle to his left told him otherwise.
"Haven't you ever seen two people in love?" Shinoa teased, casting him a cheeky grin. "I don't expect a cherry boy like you to have ever kissed someone before, but surely you've seen it."
Yuu felt blood rush to his cheeks, and he folded his arms over his chest. "Of course I know what kissing looks like!" he exclaimed. "I just… I don't get why people are kissing in the middle of a battlefield! It's gross." Still flustered, he was unable to meet her gaze. "Why do you only poke fun at me? I bet nobody else on our team has ever dated anyone!"
Shinoa raised an eyebrow at him. "That's so harsh, Yuu-san. You can't just assume—"
"I'm not assuming anything!" Yuu insisted. "I can just tell! Hey, Mitsuba!" he called, spotting the blonde only a few feet away. "Have you ever been in love?" He would ask all of his teammates the same question, and he expected them to give the same answer. Maybe Shinoa would leave him alone if he could prove his point.
"W-what kind of question is that?" Mitsuba sputtered, blushing fiercely. Her pigtails fluttered behind her as she rushed over. "Shinoa, what kind of prank are you trying to pull?" she demanded.
Shinoa raised her hands defensively. "This was not my idea," she stated. Glancing over at Yuu, she clucked softly and said, "Yuu-san, you can't ask a girl that question. That's very rude."
The fiery young man looked even more irritated than earlier. "Yoichi! Kimizuki! Help me out!" he shouted, beckoning towards his other friends. Yoichi hustled over promptly, while Kimizuki raised a hand to his head and hesitated before finally joining the group. Why did he seem so annoyed already? "Have you guys ever been in love? Have you ever kissed anyone?"
Yoichi's eyes grew wide and his face flushed a deep shade of crimson. He began to stammer incoherently and looked up at Kimizuki for support. The pink-haired boy, however, was in no position to speak. He had started coughing and was now doubled over, trying to stifle his coughs as well as hide his blushing face. When he finally regained his breath, he straightened up and glared daggers at Yuichiro. "You truly are a moron," he sighed, shaking his head softly.
Bewildered, exasperated, and a little hurt, Yuu threw his hands up in the air before shifting his attention back to Shinoa. "Well, none of them said yes," he pointed out, trying to maintain his argument. "So you have to tease all of us equally!"
The small, sassy girl tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I could do that," she mused, "but you're so easy to tease. Besides, it's not my fault that we're a team of innocent, pure virgins." She giggled as she looked over each of her flustered friends. "You're all so cute~"
Not willing to tolerate her condescending attitude, Yuu suddenly blurted out, "What about you? Have you ever been in love?" She didn't have the right to mock them if she didn't have any experience herself.
Much to Yuu's surprise, the mischievous glow faded from her eyes, and she suddenly looked rather embarrassed. "Ahaha. Aha." She brushed a lock of lavender hair behind her ear, trying to hide the pink glow on her cheeks. "Didn't I tell you not to ask a lady that question?" she chided. She spun on her heel and watched as the sun began to set in the distance. "I'm not sure," she responded at last. "I said the whole team is inexperienced. I guess that includes me." She cast a quick glance at him over her shoulder. The sunset highlighted the sorrowful smile on her lips. "Let's enjoy our victory. Tomorrow, it's back to training and teasing Yuu."
Slightly dazed, Yuu nodded slowly in agreement. They should rest now after such an intense fight, so that tomorrow they could return to… more jokes? "Wait! I didn't agree to that!"