Undying Love

Long after the column of flame had settled, spectators offshore could see the refractive glistening of ice clawing up into the night around the impending conflict between kings. Despite his impressive display of power, the Blue King remained reserved and intently focussed on his shifting target.

"I finally understand," Reisi murmured coldly. "It was a distraction, at best. The vampirism was your leash on your minions, wasn't it?" A severe expression drained the humour from Reisi's face as he considered his lethargic target. "But why did you feel the need to drag innocent people into your cruel games? I see now that there were many spawns of your evil left lingering in the dark corners of Japan, so why involve Suoh Mikoto and clan? Could you not have found a more dedicated vassal to gather lifeforce towards your resurrection?"

Mikoto's expression remained vacant as the demon considered Reisi's demand. "Humans are fascinating creatures," he rumbled vaguely. "By caging them in a constant state of suffering, they revert to their baser instincts just to survive."

"So then what Tetsuko mentioned before wasn't entirely fictional," Reisi instigated dryly. "In that sense, vampirism truly was the best means to reach your ends."

The smile that generally would have accompanied Mikoto's expression was absent as he slowly tilted his crimson eyes to connect with Reisi's. "No… It was a means to reach my beginning. I will not fall to the likes of Habari Jin a second time. I'll accredit you for rushing my process. My original intent was to be much stronger by the time we met like this, but your pawns are nearly as meddlesome to me as mine were to you."

An unamused grunt rushed from within Reisi's chest as he tightened his grip on his sword and fortified his stance. "I would humbly request that you find a more respectable means of addressing the noble men and women of SCEPTRE4's various ranks."

"Request denied."

"You truly are a monster with no regard to the value of a single life, and that will be your downfall," Reisi promised him sternly.

A flicker of life seemed to brighten Mikoto's expression as a lazy half-grin curled his lips to the widening of bloodstained eyes. The deep rumble of the hunter made Reisi's skin crawl as it rushed past the Red King's lips with a huff of steaming respire. "You're even more arrogant than your predecessor," he growled ominously. "Is that why you've put up this barrier even though you know it is no match for my flame? What you experienced from my peons was a pitiful shadow of my true might. I simply leant them my abilities to aid in their harvest."

A mocking laugh choked artificially from deep within Genji's host body, and the flames spilling from Mikoto's frame began to twist. Soon, the weaving spectres took a serpent-like form, wriggling and coiling around the calm demon obediently in preparation to strike. "Are you saying that yours is the single life standing between me and my reign?"

"I only wish that were the case," Reisi admitted soundly. "But that is not my intent. My goal is to see that all other forms of resistance remain segregated from our destruction."

"So, you defend your henchmen, how quaint!" Mikoto roared through another unsettling wave of laughter.

Reisi didn't lower his sword as he calmly stared past the glistening blade to where his target prepared to strike. He could see it in the unnaturally juddering movements of Genji's apprehended body. Somewhere inside him, Mikoto was still fighting for control. If he could weaken the demon's chaotic spirit with Tenrō, there was a chance that Mikoto could take care of the rest, without any unnecessary sacrifices. "See what you will and be grateful that the man whose body you stole has generously gifted you a glance." He watched the demented smirk fade discreetly from Mikoto's lips before an impatient grimace was reclaiming the host. Then, with the severity of Genji's ire, the snakes winding around his feet launched like penetrating beams of magma.

Appreciating the invitation, Reisi charged the assault despite Mikoto remaining unmoved. His cerulean blade sliced into the beams, scattering some fragments to either side, and the projectiles that missed his stampeded had indeed boiled right through the five-foot-thick partition surrounding their conflict. But as promised, Reisi quickly repaired the barrier with his abilities.

"Suoh, if you can hear me, I want you to know that that troublesome clan of yours is here on this very island," Reisi strictly announced as he battled the barrage of living flame spectres. "Some of them are struggling as you are at this very moment." His sword crossed his body as he made sure his peripherals scanned the intensity flickering on Mikoto's face. "They're lost, Suoh, and suffering grievous amounts of pain to battle the evil that has infected them."

Genji forced him to dodge an unexpected swell of molten earth as it liquified beneath his feet, carrying a wash of rock and iron over his head. A sudden swell of cerulean aura engulfed him in a luminous sphere, leaving the magma to crust around the defensive domain. Once it had cooled, Reisi shattered the remains into glistening onyx shards, relocating his target to lock their gazes. "If you're half the king you claim to be, you won't leave them to fight this battle alone. They need your guidance now more than ever."

"Shut up…"

"They're waiting for you, Suoh."

"You don't think I know that already?!" Mikoto heaved laboured breaths as he stood in the centre of his heart's inferno, trying to manage the way the temperature threatened to liquefy his bones as impressively as it cast metal. He could hear Reisi speaking to him, but he couldn't respond. His words were locked behind his unnaturally adjusted teeth as his mortal remains lingered in purgatory.

"K-king! Is everything okay?" Tatara's voice boomed in Mikoto's subconscious loud enough that the Red King wanted to cover his ears. "Anna-chan's skin is really hot."

"He's here," Mikoto rumbled tersely. "The Blue King. He's fighting with Kagutsu as we speak."

"Hah! That's great news!"

"Get out," Mikoto ordered urgently. "If I don't let Kagutsu take full control of my body, he's gonna cremate us both. If I do that, he'll burn himself up before he can hurt anyone else, but if you're still here-"

"They found them…" Anna's voice was weak and worried as she spoke through the same connection that she refused to surrender. "Everyone… they're together."

Even though the child lying motionless on her bed didn't move in front of Tatara's observation, he still smiled and stroked her damp bangs from her brow. "Of course, they are, Anna-chan. We'll always be by each other's sides, right?"

H-hai…

Mikoto's tone adjusted calmly with less aggression than before as he considered the weak girl's voice in his overrun mind. "How is she…?"

"Like I said, her skin is hot, but she's staying strong," Tatara reassured him proudly. "She really takes after you, King."

"She's not my kid."

Though the room was sweltering and causing him to wheeze, Tatara still laughed like their circumstance was somehow casual. "Isn't she? She's just been with us long enough to pick up your habits, I guess."

"She gets her stubbornness from you."

The breathless brunette's expression dimmed to consider Mikoto's suggestion. "Speaking of stubborn, can you move much yet?"

Mikoto glanced his blazing heart and considered the surroundings. "Yeah, I'm up," he muttered indifferently. "But there's not exactly anywhere to go."

"That's because I'm still working on that path," Tatara reassured him supportively. "That's how Kagutsu is controlling you. He's locked your spirit up so he can take control."

"Makes perfect sense…"

"Ah… Do we really have time for the attitude?" Tatara sang meekly. "Kusanagi-san thinks that's how he managed to get the others under his command too. He shut out most of their personalities, but he knows that he can't control them all himself. That's why he kept the parts of them that would turn them in his favour."

"Who else did he get…?"

Tatara's heart ached as he tightened his grip on Anna's motionless hand. "Yata-chan, Chitose-kun, San-chan and Eric, and Awashima-kun, too, but she was a blue."

"I see…" Mikoto took a moment to consider those lost, his chest aching to bear to the burden of his guilt, to reflect on his forces divided. What he wanted to do was apologize to them for being unable to protect them, for inviting them into his mess in the first place.

"That's why you can't stop fighting King," Tatara quietly begged. "If that flame swallows you up, it could take the others with it."

"Anna."

To the sound of Mikoto's address, Anna's body seemed to stiffen against her sheets as her focus sharpened to his command.

"Through my link with Kagutsu, can you tell which of the others are still fighting?"

"Yes," she mewled breathlessly.

"Tell me when they're free," he commanded lowly. "Once the others are safe, I can have my way with Kagutsu. It should be easier with Munakata prancing around distracting him. Help them first if you can."

"I can't," Anna admitted despondently.

Tatara's heart ached as he released Anna's hand with one of his, leaning forward to catch the quiet tears leaking past her sealed eyelids. "Don't worry, Anna-chan," he whispered adoringly. "If everyone's together, I know that they'll find a way. Their love for each other isn't going to lose to some scary demon."

"I can feel it," she whimpered mildly. "Mikoto… everyone is so afraid."

"Kagutsu screwed up when he weeded out the weak ones." Mikoto stared wrathfully into the flames that had become his prison, watching them twist and bind. One stipulation to receiving the blaze was a will to live despite the constant state of suffering forced on those empowered. That meant that every person carrying that flame would rather suffer eternal torment than die, and since their inductions, they'd only found more reasons to thrive. "That fear's only gonna make them stronger. He won't be able to hold them down forever."

Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky when it came to their struggle with cages. "Damn it!" Saruhiko slammed the blazing butt of his balled fist against the crystalline wall of aura that locked his king in a dedicated ring of conflict. The fragment of Mikoto's old flame within him wasn't strong enough to so much as make a dent in the obstacle. "What the hell is he thinking?!" But more importantly, Saruhiko didn't know how he was supposed to get a hold of Tenrō if it was out of his reach.

Tsk… He dropped his brow against the temperate divider, his fangs grinding against his aligned teeth as he stared at the separation. "Did he know all along?" He sealed his eyes tightly as he recalled the cryptic words of his king throughout their meetings. Although he acted oblivious at times, the man was unquestionably all-knowing. 'Did he predict that this was how it was going to happen from the start?' he bitterly theorized. 'Is that why he let a defected vampire join the ranks of SCEPTRE4 in the first place…?'

He turned his desperate navy gaze towards the daunting column, the quartz lighting up in sudden bursts from the inside out. It wasn't something that a subordinate blue clansman could undo, but he was sure that Kagutsu wouldn't have a problem with dissolving the barrier. That only meant that Reisi was trying to keep everyone else out. He was trying to keep Saruhiko out. "You're not going to stop me now," Saruhiko snarled. "Not when I'm this close."

"Saruhiko!"

Wild eyes swung over the bluecoat's shoulder to the bloodcurdling roar of Misaki, announcing his aggression. At first, Saruhiko contemplated raising his sword against the assault. Still, when he comprehended that he was not only cornered but hard-pressed to stop his rampaging friend with his abilities, he dodged instead.

Misaki was covered in blood, licking his teeth clean of the trace as he crashed into the divider where Saruhiko once lingered. "You…" Misaki snarled his words past the forearm that smeared the lifeforce from his jaw. For a moment, Saruhiko was remorseful, appreciating that if Misaki had returned in the state he was in, there was a marginal chance that Rikio was dead. "Look at me while I bust your head open!" the enraged ginger barked. "And apologize for what you did before I kill you!"

Suddenly, Saruhiko's expression flashed with signs of hope. When the dust and ash cleared where Misaki had crashed into the barrier with Kagutsu's intense flame gushing from his fists, the wall between he and his king remained scarred outside of Reisi's comprehension. "Misaki," he muttered delightedly. "Your flame can damage the barrier now."

"Of course, it fucking can!" Misaki snapped upon lurching on the offensive. "With Mikoto-san's flames, I can do anything!" His body ignited to draw more power from the well of Kagutsu's blaze before his fists crashed into the vacant space that Saruhiko was desperate to keep between them.

It wasn't Mikoto's flame, and Saruhiko knew that as he defended against Misaki's persistence, his grin twisting with triumph. "Idiot," he sneered. "It was never Mikoto's flame. It was always Kagutsu's! You weren't just a vampire's pet; you were a demon's puppet all along!"

"Like I would ever believe a back-stabbing bastard like you!"

'That's it… hotter,' Saruhiko wanted to release his sword and dab the sweat from his brow, but he couldn't do more than beam his success. 'Burn for me, Misaki!' One last time, they were going to work together and take down any obstacle in their way, even fate.

Not far from where that particular conflict took place, Izumo swung to face where a daunting pillar of crystal jutted roughly into the night sky. 'That's Munakata's ability,' he thought urgently. 'He must've found Mikoto.'

"How dare you turn away from me?!"

Izumo sucked in a hard breath and tore his nose from where Seri threatened to cleave it from his face. "Damn it, Seri! The hell's it gonna take for you to come to your senses!?"

Without dawdling, her apprehended sabre came crashing down on the patch of earth where he'd stood a moment prior. "I could say the same for you!" she raged. "We follow the same king now!"

An intense expression twisted Izumo's generally casual appearance into a displeased knot. "Suoh Mikoto has been, is, and always will be my king," he nearly growled. After weaving beneath her strike, he lunged for her extended forearm to knock the blade free, successfully disarming the lovely woman despite her rage. "I don't take orders from just any demon to go and possess his body."

But Seri had never been helpless, and Izumo felt the pressure of that reality when she twisted from his grasp and jolted her elbow into his chin. Restraining her was becoming increasingly difficult with her new power-up. "You fool, that body no longer belongs to Suoh Mikoto."

His heaving breaths quaked as he clasped his aching face, his torso wilted and staring at the charred ground beneath them. "Then… I guess it's up to me to take it from Kagutsu for him." His heart was aching as he did his best to straighten, sad eyes staring back at the woman he'd been fool enough to lose his heart over. "'Cause when he wakes up, he's probably gonna want it back."

"You persist with such fruitless labour!"

Izumo didn't shift when Seri raised her leg, sweeping it behind her over her head to connect her flaming heel with his skull.

"What a pitiful excuse for a soldier!"

A choked laugh sounded in Izumo's throat as he picked himself off the ground in the wake of her command. "Come on, Seri-chan," he nearly whispered. "You know I'm no soldier…" He straightened, trying to keep his voice from trembling as he weighed his options. He couldn't bring himself to raise a hand to her in her state of delusion, but if he didn't, she would kill him before he could make it to where he was needed. "I'm just a pitiful excuse for a bartender."

He saw the fire thrash in her once beautiful crystal eyes as they bled with manic purpose, and his heart was in his throat, threatening to wet his eyes. "But I'll be damned if I walk away from this as a pitiful excuse for a friend," he reasoned. "Decades ago, Mikoto gave up everything he had to save a friend, and you know what? That takes guts. And because of that, Totsuka's sitting back at this bartender's kingdom safe and sound." He bowed his head with a small snort as he watched the blood drip to the earth from where his stricken nose flooded. "I couldn't do something like that."

A wrenching fist slammed against his thigh as he steadied himself to Seri's threat. "But I can do this," he solemnly vowed. "I can be there up until the very end, whatever that is. For Mikoto, for all of HOMRA." He raised his mild grin towards where Seri was lingering in a bewildered huff. "Even you, Seri."

The scars on his heart were as crystal-clear as her eyes once were. The first time he synchronized with the beast that Mikoto had become, he felt it, the suffocating well of horror that promised something good was still inside the demons they'd become. It wasn't easy to convince everyone that it was there, but if nothing else, it gave Izumo hope and a reason to take every hit suffered.

"So, you have chosen to betray our king?"

Izumo slowly shook his head, but at the same time, he was relieved that she'd lowered her voice. "No, I stand by my king, which is what you see as a betrayal," he cautioned her evenly. "Your king is the one who lost a great soldier when Kagutsu decided to play his games."

"Are you suggesting-?!"

"I love you, Seri," he whispered to interrupt her raving. Still, his body ignited with the remains of the flame he'd received from his friend back when it all began. "Just remember that, no matter what happens, okay?" And before she could launch a counterstrike, he snapped his fingers, sending blazing projectiles across the distance that remained too great between them. She tumbled across the ground to reclaim the sword he'd knocked away, and she summoned her cobalt aura to her aid. At the very least, he had to distract her long enough to get closer to Mikoto. They weren't far now, but it seemed like she wasn't going to give up until she struck him from their ranks.

'You seein' this, Mikoto?' His thoughts were distant as he combated the azure slashes of Seri's blade, losing more blood in the process of trying to avoid her rather than silencing her threat. 'If I have to put even one scratch on my Seri-chan, I'm comin' straight for you.' There was some semblance of tact behind Kagutsu's decision to turn friends into foes, but he picked the worst bunch of idiots to try and corrupt. Little did he know, they were the thickest breed of hard-headed kids that were just too stubborn to die.

The agonized curses that wanted to rush past Masaomi's lips caught behind the dusty tin his aching body skidded across. The moment he summoned enough strength to raise his hand, he melted through the soft metal with his flames until he'd luckily caught himself on a joist beneath the sheet metal. He barked indignantly to the unbearable pressure of his arm that threatened to disjoint with the interrupted force. His fingers split around the jagged edge of the alloy as it cooled, causing his grip to weaken further despite his reserved struggle. It wasn't all too soon, either. The side of the building Yō had chased him onto was close to his reverse, and he was running out of energy to push back against his friend's advance.

Everything was burning, including the inside of the structure where he'd found himself victimized. He could feel the heat rising and making the already malleable surface unstable. The ribbed sheets lingered stained with blood beneath him, some of it his, other traces remnant of earlier skirmishes. The skies rained ash as he opened one eye, trying to focus his distance vision without his spectacles. Yō's progress was blurry, but sure, and all Masaomi wanted to accomplish was getting to his feet before he grew nearer.

Unfortunately, Yō was closer than expected, and before Masaomi could scramble, the searing pressure of Yō's palm was crowning Masaomi's bare head. He'd lost his hat sometime long before his glasses, but one thing Yō hadn't managed to knock away from him was his spiteful determination.

"That's just sad." Yō drawled his ridicule from one knee, his secure grip raising Masaomi's gritted expression from the ashy rooftop. "I haven't even finished my cigarette yet, and you're already tappin' out? What fun is that?" To be fair, there wasn't much left, though. Masaomi was surprised even a shred of nicotine remained with the intensity of Yō's upgraded flames. That power was all-consuming in a way that seemed surreal even to their clanmates.

Yō reached out with a sad smile and slid his second thumb over Masaomi's gritted teeth to smear the blood away from his gums. "Come on, don't be a hero," he sassed brightly. "I'm tellin' you. Chicks love a bad boy."

When the taste of sulphur met his tongue beneath Yō's thumbpad, Masaomi turned and spat out the rancid flavour along with a generous mouthful of blood. He was silently grateful that a couple of teeth didn't accompany the slop, because, since his possession, the jabs Yō took were like taking concrete from ten stories up. "No, they'll fuck a bad boy," he corrected sternly. "You and I both know that it hasn't been love since Yamaoka." The sheer lack of acknowledgement on Yō's face left Masaomi feeling defeated. Then again, he'd felt pathetic for having to try and interrupt Yō's brutality with painful memories of a past life.

Outside of outwardly ignoring Masaomi's dig, Yō's fixed scarlet leer tapered over his wry smile. He let his thumb slide away from Masaomi's face, keeping his focus locked on the sight of passionate flames defiantly flashing behind his associate's dark chocolate eyes. "You'd make a pretty bitch, y' know that?" Despite the disgruntled snort to cut past Masaomi's flaring nostrils, Yō kept a tight hold on his head and touched their brows together. Regardless of his nearness causing Masaomi to hiss with the pain of the cigarette burning his cheek, Yō didn't shift his eyes away from the chaotic flickering of Masaomi's. "You've got nice eyes."

But Masaomi hated the hues of maroon staining Yō's previously russet irises bloody. At the very darkest when lusting, Yō's eyes were sangria, a rich and rusty brown when he was prowling for someone to find the buried treasure that was his heart. It wasn't that difficult when you knew where to look, but not everyone realized that the challenge could be so literal. It was hard for Masaomi to keep his eyes matched with Yō's when the surge of something sinister was clawing around beneath Yō's skin. He could see the molten wave of dark amber rushing beneath what was quite unlike the calming notes of amethyst that used to flood his circulatory system before a demon took him hostage. But his attention always returned, because, with every noxious upsurge, he could see Yō's jaw lock. The pressure was becoming unbearable and the heat immense. Masaomi almost growled with the intensity of the scalding grip matted in his ebony hair, but even if it caused them both to suffer, Yō couldn't break free.

Suddenly, Masaomi stopped fussing, finally connecting their too-close gazes directly. For a long moment, his humid breaths stabilized, and he studied the helpless weight in Yō's expression. He'd recognized it because he'd seen it before. He saw it the day that he stepped into the monster's den to drag Yō out of his apartment and get his thirst under control.

Back then, Yō was sitting on the floor with his shoulders against his sofa, his fingers laced so tightly as they rested between his knees that Masaomi wasn't sure if they would work properly after they'd pried them apart. The room was covered in blood and rank enough that he was confident the only reason other tenants didn't report the scent was out of sheer terror. But, as usual, nothing so insignificant could turn Masaomi away from a friend.

Get up, that was all he'd said after kicking out at one of Yō's socked feet, dismayed when the fresh blood staining it was shared with his in passing. There was no sense trying to hide the bodies. Chitose Yō was about to vanish without a trace, somehow. All Masaomi had to do was get him to HOMRA.

But Yō didn't move, and that was the part that caused Masaomi's memories to take a journey into the past. He reminisced kneeling next to the mess that his friend had become, resting his palm on his umber mop, and he recalled the battle Yō locked within himself just to retain some sort of humanity. He remembered that look in his eyes the moment he shifted. It wasn't until Yō's teeth were already drawing blood to the surface of his extended forearm that he'd dropped the picture of his departed ex-girlfriend, the bloodstained photopaper wrinkled between them.

Come at me. Masaomi felt Yō's grip flex in his hair, evoking the night where he'd done the same in a desperate attempt to pry the demon out of the tendons in his arm. That look had stayed with him even after Yō had closed his eyes, forcing terrified tears to fall as he clung to Masaomi like he was his last hope. And maybe he was.

"It's too bad that I have to kill you now."

"I'm sorry…"

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry." Masaomi's tone was flat as he checked out the strength in each limb in preparation to fight, starting with the grip he used to ensnare Yō's wrist. With swift movements, he twisted Yō's hold away from his head and bunched the man's shirt sleeve along his arm. Then, he sank his protracted canines around either side of the thick muscle once flexing to keep Masaomi's weary head from falling. Despite the quivering of the extensors beneath, Masaomi's crushing entrapment intensified.

"I hear you."

'Come back to me, asshole.' Masaomi let Yō snarl in agony and retract his wounded ligaments, his teeth coming down so hard on the remains of his cigarette that he severed the paper, spitting out what remained of the filter once keeping him tranquil. Then, Masaomi propped himself upright, trying to get his body to respond in a way that would coordinate with his plans. "I should have been there that day, not Totsuka." He tried his hardest to keep his callous expression locked without notes of remorse as he struggled to maintain control of the situation. "But instead, they were the ones that found you by Rei-chan's grave. I should have never let you get that out of control, but I did because I didn't know how to help you."

He could feel the turmoil roiling throughout Yō's tensed frame as their connection stabilized. "So, I deserve this," he reasoned curtly. "Now, I've got no choice but to be there to bail you out, so I guess I'd better get better at it."

"You finally found some fight in you?" But the humour had long drained from Yō's voice as he braced himself.

He'd found something better. "Somewhere inside you, there's a single shred of a decent human being left that would apologize for screwing over a friend, and that spec of dignity is like a brother to me." He didn't talk about his emotional state often, so when Masaomi accompanied the words with the feelings he tended to keep locked inside, projecting them onto his mate through their forced connection, Yō seemed to stagger. His movements weren't as natural, and his expression was flickering with the mixed emotions that fought for control. But suddenly, the wound that he was clutching on his arm seemed to cause him more pain than expected for a vampire, and it wasn't healing. That pain encouraged him to act out in self-defence, to which Masaomi responded as methodically as possible.

"So, if I have to tear you apart to save him, I will," Masaomi promised. "And just like every other time you drink and whore yourself to another broken heart, I'll sit on the damn floor and sort the pieces out with you until you can put it back together again."

Yō was senseless for a moment after managing to convey his distress to the only person who could hear his heart. His battle within himself spilled over, but Masaomi didn't stand down. He met the aggression that Yō displayed towards himself somewhere deeper than even sighted eyes could see. But through his misguidance, he was clumsy, allowing Masaomi to sneak a couple of solid blows to his body before the condemning force of his forearm to Yō's throat had Yō collapsing onto the tin with a defeated crash.

Heavy panting accompanied Masaomi's low growl, and it took everything he had not to feel guilty for striking his comrade so violently. If Yō were mortal, Masaomi felt like the unrestrained force of his blow would've collapsed his windpipe. "The hell if I know why we're like this…" he grated. "But you can't do it without me." The whisper on Masaomi's lips was choked with disdain as he watched Yō crawl to his knees, bumbling around like he was recovering from a bender the night before. At that point, the words Masaomi spoke were self-indulgent. "And I don't have it in me to give up without a fight, so don't you dare give up on me."

Retching coughs sputtered from Yō's burning lungs while he braced himself on his hands and knees, struggling to stave off total asphyxiation. His entire physique began to shiver as the pain ripped throughout him with the return of his senses, and like every other time he'd binged himself into a stupor, he ended up emptying his stomach's contents onto the floor. His throat burned, but it was opening after Masaomi's assault, and his head was foggy. He hoped it would clear with the rush of oxygen he was trying desperately to force down even though it kept bringing everything else back up. When blood started colouring the upheaval, his body began to quiver violently.

Yō's back was to Masaomi, who'd seemed to settle, but he was still afraid to turn. He sat back on his knees, tightly clasping the wound that continued to drain from the resulting tear of Masaomi's teeth. It was still terrifying, knowing it was happening but being unable to stop it. He wiped the mess from his mouth with his uninjured arm, struggling to calm the fever within him.

His abdomen burned as he lurched again, but he didn't have anything left to evacuate. His head was splitting, so despite the pain, both sets of clawing fingertips raised to tear at his scalp. Heart scars were an easy thing to relive for a vampire, but he wasn't even sure that's what he was anymore. Yō never thought in a million years that he would ever complain about the heat, but it was on, and he couldn't take it. He worried he was burning from the inside out in a way that would ultimately lead to his destruction.

"Get up."

Yō flinched to the apathetic tone of Masaomi's voice behind him, but he was too proud to beg his forgiveness. In his hysteria, he hoped that if he ignored the command, Masaomi would just go away. But a moment later, he felt Masaomi bind his grip in his vest, jerking him unkindly to his feet.

"We can't stay here." As usual, Masaomi had to be the reason behind their mayhem, and he kept a weathered eye on their surroundings as he palmed Yō's head and held him protectively close. Then, after taking a moment to consider that the waves of conflict seemed to rage elsewhere, he finally glanced his miserable friend. The hickory in his eyes had returned, even less red in his flat stare than he had initially. It was dull and advertised that Genji's power over him had faded.

Yō flinched when Masaomi drew his arm between them, upturning it to offer his comrade a shot at revenge.

"Here, take it." Masaomi looked down to where his undershirt bared his arm after to the removal of his jacket. "I don't know if it'll help right now, but I don't think it's a good idea to go putting just anything on this island in your mouth."

Yō clicked his tongue lightly, looking away shamefully to the sight of the destruction around them. He'd caused a lot of it himself, and he was paying the price. He must have been part vampire, at least, because the thirst was causing his body to wrack unbearably. It wasn't that he'd typically find himself desperate enough to go swapping blood with another bloodsucker, but there wasn't anything stable about their lives anymore. "Hey… Dewa, I'm-"

"Just shut up," Masaomi rumbled petulantly under his breath. When he felt Yō's teeth puncture his skin, a flood of relief washed over him, and at that point, he wasn't sure of which one of them originated it. His palm was gentler that time as he drew Yō's bowed head forward so that he could rest his chin in the brunette's smoky mop. He closed his eyes and let his body relax as the familiar sting of Yō's tears burned his fresh wounds. If nothing else, infected blood might at least help to ease nausea while he got his friend off the forsaken island burning up around them.

"Idiot," Masaomi muttered vaguely. "I hope you learned your lesson this time. I'm gettin' real sick of bailing your ass out of trouble." When Yō pulled away with a shuddering snigger, Masaomi's softened expression backed away and reconnected their gazes. "Was it worth the tail?"

Yō didn't want to raise his gentle tawny gaze as he touched the back of his hand to his mouth to keep from heaving again. He'd finally gotten his eyes to dry even though the pain made them want to water continually with his movements. "You're gonna hold that over my head forever, aren't you?"

"For as long as we've got, yeah." Though disheartened, Masaomi finally smiled. "You're just lucky you didn't end up with horns."

"Well-"

"Give it a fucking break, Chitose."

Back at HOMRA, Tatara startled to the sudden movement of Anna's previously limp fingers. He could feel her heart rate accelerate upliftingly, and it caused him to flush with hope. "Anna-chan, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Yō," she breathed out tenderly in thought. "He's free."

"Free?" Tatara's expression brightened as he clasped Anna's paws tightly even though she wasn't conscious to feel his excitement. "That's great news," he sang in relief. "King, did you hear that? Chitose came back to us!" He thought the news would delight their caged leader. That meant that there were only four more left until they could plan their counterattack, but his response didn't come.

Tatara immediately shifted and began to concentrate on their connection through Anna. "A-ah… maybe he didn't hear me," he quietly justified. "King, did you hear me? Chitose is free of Kagutsu's control. I bet Dewa probably found him and snapped him out of it. They've always been pretty close."

The connection remained silent, causing Tatara's once-pleasant smile to fade with worry. "K-King? King!?"

'I find it incredibly amusing that you think anyone could escape my powers.'

The colour immediately evacuated Tatara's complexion as his grip on the unresponsive Anna tightened, and he immediately tried to jostle her awake. "Anna! Anna, wake up! T-that voice-!"

'I don't appreciate your meddling in my affairs…'