Disclaimer: I do not own Owari no Seraph (Seraph of the End). I write this for your enjoyment only. This AU takes place after chapter 52 of the manga with fem!Mika opening up to Shinoa and Mitsuba a bit more about her feelings for Yuichiro as well as her own past and fears as a vampire.
Sisters in Arms
"So how are you feeling, Mika?" Shinoa asked gently as she examined the young blonde vampire's upper arms which were bare after she had removed her uniform and stripped down to her undergarments at the younger girl's request.
Not surprisingly, Mikaela had milky white skin, the result of living underground in the vampire city for nearly half a decade as well as her mixed ethnic background as the daughter of a Russian man and Japanese woman. Like with their hair, which would always remain the same length as when they were made, a vampire's skin-tone also remained the same color and does not change regardless of sun exposure or lack of.
"I feel fine, Shinoa, really. Its not necessary to fuss over me so much, especially since you know vampires can heal from these kind of things quickly" Mika said quietly as she rubbed the areas where her arms had been sliced clean off by Fuola Honte, a tenth level vampire progenitor whom she had engaged in confrontation with when the party arrived at Ferid's mansion. The same arms that Mitsuba helped her re-attach shortly after.
Ironically, it had been Crowley Eusford who destroyed Fuola and allowed them to enter the forbidden home of the seventh progenitor where Mika was now being examined by Shinoa and Mitsuba in one of Ferid's luxurious bedrooms as she sat on a queen-sized bed with satin sheets and comforters.
"Yes, I know you can heal from wounds quickly and re-attach your severed limbs, Mika. But that doesn't prevent you from feeling pain, does it?" Mitsuba persisted.
The blonde sighed. "Yes, you're right about that, Mitsuba. But to a vampire, no battle wound is as painful as the constant thirst for blood. Surely you must know this."
"We do" Shinoa answered. "Speaking of which, how are you holding out on that?"
Mikaela frowned. Though she had just fed from Yuichiro the day before and can easily go another two to three days without feeding, it still did not mean she would not be tempted at the sight of blood.
"I'll be ok, I just fed from Yuu-chan recently" she answered quietly.
Shinoa frowned. "Are you sure, Mika? You looked rather… hungry when Narumi cut himself in front of you. Not that I approved of the method he used to test your willpower, but I'm still concerned for you all the same."
The blonde vampire narrowed her eyes. "Concerned, Shinoa? About what? My well-being or that I might lose control over my thirst and attack one of you?"
"Mika, I didn't mean it like that," the Hiragi girl said. "I won't deny your self-control is something to be concerned about but I still trust that you won't deliberately hurt Yuichiro or any of us. And I am concerned for your well-being just as much if not more; we all are."
"Well, I appreciate your sentiment but it is not necessary," the blonde vampire said more coldly than she intended. "I'm perfectly capable of controlling myself. If I wasn't, I would have killed Yuu-chan a long time ago, the first time I drank from him."
Mitsuba had to resist the urge to sigh in frustration. Despite the best efforts of nearly everyone in Shinoa's squad to make friends with Mikaela, the blonde seemed to take everything they say and do the wrong way. In that, she was just as stubborn as her orphanage brother, who was now her lover, Yuichiro.
"Mika, you aren't being fair. If you want us to have faith in you, then you need to have a bit more faith in us as well. I understand it might be hard to do that after what you've been through but would it hurt for you to at least try?"
Mikaela glared at the Sangu girl for her audacious question. "How dare you ask me such a thing, human? You have never experienced the hell I went through after I was turned and so you cannot understand what it is to be a vampire. I didn't ask for this, it was forced upon me by the vampire queen herself. I never had any choice in the matter!"
Before Mitsuba could reply, Shinoa intervened while giving the other girl a glare. Although her heart was in the right place, she knew Mitsuba had an unfortunate tendency to rile others up by wording things the wrong way.
"No, you're right, Mika. We cannot know what its like to be a vampire ourselves but we can imagine. And I imagine you denying your thirst for blood would be no different than us denying our need for food and water, am I right?"
Mikaela was silent for a moment. To be honest, it was somewhat of a fair comparison. Just as vampires could go for a few days without blood, humans could also go for a few days without food and water but it would be painful and weaken them. But even so, it wasn't exactly the same.
"It's not just our endless thirst for blood. We cannot eat or drink or enjoy sunlight because all of our senses or oversensitive. Nor can we grow and change over time or produce children. It's like being frozen forever in time in an ageless, meaningless existence."
Taking pity on the blonde vampire, Shinoa gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Hush, Mika, your existence is not meaningless just because you're a vampire. If you thought it was, you would have forsaken Yuichiro a long time ago and lived only to quench your thirst for blood."
"I fear I still might…" Mika said sadly as she placed her face in her hands. To the other two girls, she looked like she was fighting the urge to cry.
"What do you mean?" Mitsuba asked curiously.
Although Mikeala normally did not like disclosing the more intimate details of her life to others aside from Yuichiro and her former orphanage brothers and sisters who were now deceased, she felt as though she badly wanted to confide in someone about the disturbing truth about all vampires that Crowley Eusford had revealed to her only the night before.
"Crowley told me that the longer a vampire lives, the more they will lose their human feelings until they care about nothing but just that: quenching their thirst for blood. I didn't want to believe him but I cannot deny that I am slowly starting to lose my emotions. You saw how Yuu-chan reacted when Ferid taunted him with Akane's head? I was also upset but nowhere near as enraged as he was" Mika confessed grimly as she lifted her face and looked Shinoa and Mitsuba in the eyes.
"Well that doesn't mean anything. It could just be because Yuu is overly emotional, not because you're losing your emotions, Mika", Shinoa suggested.
Even though the Hiragi girl tried to sound reassuring, deep down, she also had her doubts but tried to stay positive, if only for Mikaela's sake.
"I want to believe that. But I can't deny that I am slowly starting to care less and less about the things that once mattered so much to me. Things I once found beautiful and fascinating can barely hold my interest now."
"But you still care for Yuichiro who obviously cares about you just as much. You talk about losing your emotions, yet you got upset when I merely suggested you try to have a little more faith in us. And you also worry about becoming a monster who lives for nothing but satisfying their blood lust. If you can still feel concern for those things, then you are not losing your emotions the way Crowley claims" Mitsuba pointed out, causing Shinoa and Mika to look at her in surprise.
Although the Sangu girl could be a bit blunt and insensitive sometimes, she could, incredibly, also offer remarkable insight into the character of others from time to time.
Mika nodded. "It's true, I do love Yuu-chan. That hasn't changed. And I'm going to fight to the very end to make sure it doesn't."
Shinoa smiled as she patted Mika on the shoulder. "That's the spirit, Mika. So no more of this talk of losing your feelings. Yuu himself would not want that. Although he's clumsy with his words sometimes, it's obvious to all of us that he does love you. From the moment we saw you challenge the entire Moon Demon Company to get him back without hesitation, Mii-chan and I knew we couldn't compete; the only question was if Yuichiro would make room for you in his heart even though you've become a vampire. And he has. Never forget that, Mikaela."
At the other girl's words, Mika finally had to smile. Though they were human and she was no longer one of them, Shinoa and Mitsuba continued to treat her as if she was. They also showed her more caring than most of the other vampires she's been around for years while serving as a swordmaiden to Queen Krul Tepes.
Even when she was human, the blonde often found herself the object of scorn for selling herself to Ferid Bathory in exchange for the noble providing her small family with decent food and medicine as well as other things needed to live comfortably in the bleak vampire city of Sanguinem. It was the only time she had ever used her beauty as an advantage to capture the interest of a man she had no real desire to be with. But as long as she could make Yuu and the other Hyakuya orphans happy, Mikaela was willing to do anything and she did.
Back then, even the older livestock boys, who often harassed and molested the younger girls in Sanguinem, would not approach Mikaela as soon as they heard rumors that a vampire lord had already sampled her. The girls themselves were just as cruel, usually whispering about Mika, calling her a "vampire's whore" behind her back when they thought she couldn't hear though they never dared say so to her face out of fear that her benefactor would bring his wrath down upon them for dissing his favorite "concubine", which she was at the time.
But none of that mattered anymore. Especially now that Mikaela finally had the boy she loved back as well as the support of his other friends of their relationship. As things are now, she honestly couldn't ask for anything more other than a chance to become human again if it were at all possible.
"Thank you, both of you. That does make me feel better" Mika admitted.
"You're welcome, Mika. We're glad we can help you and Yuichiro, we really are" Mitsuba insisted. "Just remember that we're here for you just as much as he is, as sisters in arms."
Mikaela laughed, something she had not done earnestly in years. "Sisters in arms… I like the sound of that."
Shinoa smiled. "So do we, Mika," she said as she stuck her hand out, palm down.
Taking the cue, Mitsuba and even Mikaela joined in.
"Sisters in arms."
A/N: Sorry for the short length. This is just a snippit I thought of while I'm bored at work. But I hope you all liked it! ;)
