Disclaimer: I do not own Owari no Seraph (Seraph of the End). I write this for your enjoyment only. This fic is an alternate version of the Nagoya arc with events different from the original; please refer to the footnotes at the end. Once again, I would like to thank my beta reader, ResidentialPsycho as well as Falchion1984, for their help in making this fic possible.
Chapter 15: His Favorite Sword Dancer
"Don't be intimidated by the lieutenants, girls, I've got your back!" Daisuke called to the Harada twins. Despite the fact that they were fighting four-on-three, Risa and Riku lacked the combat experience of Sayuri and Shigure.
As the twins attacked Guren's retainers, Daisuke supported them as best her could with his whip. The two Shigures, one real and the other a decoy, were launching volleys of wires to catch the twins in veritable spider webs. These filaments gave way with satisfying ease, clearing the twins' path. With her sai, *1* Riku took on Sayuri in a duel while Risa used her war fans to block and deflect Shigure's kunai at every opportunity.
Even though he knew at least two of the women and their weapons were illusions, Daisuke had difficulty telling them apart, so he was forced to call upon his demon contractor for assistance.
"I need your help, Dark. Which one of these ladies are the illusions, and which are real?" the red-haired boy asked while ignoring the sweat that was starting to form on his brow because he knew panicking was unlikely to help the twins he was trying to assist.
"Beats me, Dai… We demons don't know everything…" the phantom thief answered with a shrug.
"Are you serious? Then what the hell did I make a contract with you for?!" Daisuke demanded in frustration.
"Tsk, fine. Shall I try guessing for you, then?"
Daisuke groaned but relented because for some reason, he trusted his demon's intuition a bit more than his own since he had never been a lucky guesser; the test scores Daisuke got when he didn't study proved that. The fate of the Harada twins may very well depend on who he chose to attack.
"Ok, do it!" the red-haired boy answered.
Unlike Guren, Mito, and Yuichiro, Risa and Riku did not have as much experience fighting multiple attackers but still put forth their best efforts into fighting the older women as well as their doubles. Using her war fans, Risa succeeded in knocking some of Shigure's kunai away, but at least two of them managed to slip past her defense with one grazing her upper right arm and another her left lower thigh.
Although not serious, the sudden stinging pain from the cuts distracted Risa for a moment, which was long enough for Shigure to send a wire to wrap itself around her right foot and pull the brunette girl's leg out from under her.
Crying out in shock, Risa collapsed to the ground on her back, leaving her almost completely vulnerable had she not raised her fans to shield herself. Riku heard her twin's cry and tried to end her duel with Sayuri quickly, so she could help Risa up. However, the older woman would not allow her that luxury.
"It would be unwise for you to take your eyes off the enemy, my dear…" Sayuri warned as she brought her twin blades to meet Riku's sai blow for blow as the brunette girl was forced to depend on Daisuke to watch her back and fend off Sayuri's double.
Knowing better than to just lie there and wait for her twin and Daisuke to rescue her, Risa quickly used the sharp blade of one of her fans to slice the wire around her foot before launching herself to her feet again while doing her best to ignore the pain in her leg and foot. The last thing Risa Harada wanted was to be a burden to anyone else. She had sworn this months earlier, after Yuichiro had rescued her from the rogue vampire who'd broken out of a research lab near their school.
"Heh, don't count me out yet!" the brunette girl yelled defiantly to her opponent before attacking again. Whether the woman before her was the real Sayuri Hanayori or an illusion made no difference; she had to be eliminated.
Thinking quickly, Daisuke drew back his whip before lashing out to strike at what he believed was the illusion of Sayuri based on Dark's guess. Fortunately, the phantom's thief was correct and Daisuke's whip coiled around the older woman, pinning her arms to her side and leaving her completely defenseless. Seizing the opportunity her squad mate provided, Risa made an "X" strike with her fans at the fake Sayuri and the honey-colored haired woman vanished in a puff of smoke.
However, there was still the double of Shigure to deal with.
"Forget your twin, girl. Worry about yourself!" the older raven-haired woman said without emotion as she reached inside her pocket and pulled out three more kunai to throw at Riku, making her wonder just how many of those little daggers Shigure could possibly hold in her uniform jacket. Riku knew it would be more difficult to fend off the projectiles with a thin pair of sai than it would be with a pair of wide war fans like Risa's, but that didn't stop her from trying to protect her twin with everything she had.
"Sorry, but I don't abandon my own no matter what, lady!" she shot back.
To that, Shigure's (the real one) face broke into a smile, albeit a very small one, but it was there. *2*
"That's the spirit, Miss Harada. You'll need it!"
Riku grinned before swatting Shigure's kunai away and turning around to fight Sayuri once more, putting her trust in Daisuke to handle the older raven-haired woman.
Although they were clearly not having it easy, Shinoa sensed through Shikama Doji that Daisuke and the Harada twins were able to at least somewhat hold their own against Sayuri and Shigure.
Unfortunately, she could not say the same of herself and Mitsuba as they squared off against Mito and her double. As if fighting together against the scarlet-haired woman wasn't hard enough, Shinoa and Mitsuba found themselves fighting what appeared to be two of her, one each.
And the illusion fought just as well as the real thing.
It was all the girls could do to just hold onto their weapons while trying in vain to take down Mito and her double. Mitsuba screamed and fell to the ground clutching her side when Mito delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to her ribs, nearly cracking them.
Gritting her teeth, the blonde girl thought:
Shit! Illusion or not, that sure felt real!
"Mi-chan!" Shinoa cried as she used her demon scythe to take another swipe at Mito and missing as the older woman skittered to the side to evade the blow with contemptuous ease.
Now that Mitsuba was down, Shinoa found herself fighting both the real and fake Mito. Even though she could tell which one was the illusion and which was the real thing, fending them both off, let alone searching for an opening to attack, was next to impossible.
Shinoa could only hope that her other squad members were faring better.
"Fire again, Saehara!" Yoichi cried as he took another aim at Shinya while hoping his fellow archer was doing the same.
Not wanting Yoichi to see how frightened he was despite his excitement at taking on the veteran sniper earlier, Takeshi obeyed. Although neither archer had time to voice their thoughts, they both knew that their best bet at taking down the major general was to shoot his weapon out of his hands and attack him before he could re-summon it again since Shinya's demon resided in his mind, not the rifle itself.
And such a thing was much easier said than done. As a master sniper, Shinya easily saw through their plan.
"Did you think I wouldn't figure it out, boys? That's the oldest trick in the book!" he taunted with a grin before calling for his demon.
"It's time we give these boys a spanking, Byakkomaru!"
The tiger demon snorted. "Do I look like a baby-sitter to you, Shinya? Don't insult me by calling on my power for such trivial things."
Shinya laughed. "Seriously, Byakkomaru, you're no fun. Makes me wonder how we even ended up in a contract from the start! But fine, I don't need your help to discipline these boys."
Not waiting for Byakkomaru to reply, Shinya fired again. Although his own demon weapon was really no better or stronger than that of the younger snipers', he had much more experience using it and few things escaped his sharp, keen eyes.
The major general also had a few tricks up his sleeve. Taking aim at Yoichi and Takeshi, Shinya once again pulled the trigger and as he expected, the boys braced themselves for his attack by readying their bows with the intent of using their demon arrows to dissipate his tiger bullets.
But to their surprise, nothing came out of Shinya's rifle when he pulled the trigger and the boys found themselves confused until they sensed something coming up from behind them. And by the time Yoichi and Takeshi figured out what was really going on, it was too late and they found themselves hit with a weaker version of Shinya's demonic projectiles from behind, knocking them both over.
"Well, that was quick…" Shinya said humorously as he walked over and looked down at the younger boys sprawled on the ground on their stomachs. Knowing that they were still conscious and listening, the major general continued, "You boys are lucky I was holding back. If I had used Byakkomaru to his full power, you'd both be smoking piles of ash now."
Yoichi and Takeshi groaned in pain, but neither uttered a word of protest. Shinya could not help but smile at their efforts even though they lost.
"There, there, don't look so down, boys," he said kindly, giving them the same sympathetic look that he gave Yuichiro when he helped her to stand after knocking her down in front of Kureto and Aoi to convince them that he did not know her. "You both have potential, and skill is something that can only come with time and experience."
"Thanks, that makes us feel soo much better, sir…" Takeshi groaned as he rolled onto his back and grimaced in pain with Yoichi following suit. Even if Shinya was right, it didn't change the fact that being struck with his tiger bullets hurt like hell.
Shinya said nothing, and his smile vanished as he shifted his gaze towards Guren, who was still fighting with Yuichiro, Satoshi, and Kimizuki. As the major general expected, his best friend had no problem taking on the three younger sword fighters all at once. And, knowing the man, Shinya bet Guren could probably even do it with a hand tied behind his back.
"You children are pathetic!" Guren taunted as he forced Kimizuki back before turning his attention to Yuichiro and Satoshi again.
The pink-haired boy groaned in frustration at how he could not even land a single blow on Guren despite wielding two swords instead of one as well as having the assistance of Yuichiro and Satoshi; the older man's blade seemed to move faster than his eyes could see, always moving just enough to block his attacks. And even if Kimizuki could spot an opening in Guren's seemingly impenetrable defense, he wasn't fast enough to exploit them. Seeing the sweat forming on Satoshi's brow, Kimizuki could tell that the other boy was of the same mind regarding their opponent.
Shit, the lieutenant colonel is really something! Satoshi thought. Not only that, he can run his mouth like a motor while fighting too! Now, I know who Miss Hyakuya gets her sharp tongue from!
Reading Satoshi's thoughts, Krad chuckled. "It looks like you're in a tight spot again, Master Satoshi. Shall I offer my assistance now? Just let me possess you for a bit and we should be able to take down that arrogant bastard easily!"
Satoshi snorted. "No, thanks, Krad. I have Yuichiro and Kimizuki, so I won't be needing your help this time around."
"Suit yourself, master. But from the looks of it, even the three of you won't be enough to beat him. From what I can see, that man is way out of your league, so don't come crying to me when he humiliates you in front of the entire MDC!"
"Like you would give a shit if he does!"
"You wound me, Master Satoshi. I'm not as heartless as you would think." *3*
"Fuck off, Krad!" the blue-haired boy snarled inwardly. The blond demon was lying, and they both knew it. But Satoshi also knew that he had more important things to worry about at the moment than Krad's sincerity.
Unfortunately, it was just as Krad had predicted. Despite being every bit as good with the sword as Yuichiro, Satoshi did not last much longer than Kimizuki. After the pink-haired boy had been taken out of the fight, Satoshi found himself literally bowled over after he tried to block a powerful side swipe from Guren. The force behind the older man's blow was overwhelming; it was as if he had the strength of a vampire, even without calling for his demon.
"Now it's just you and me, Yuichiro!" Guren gloated with a grin as if he were exhilarated at weeding out the other two swordsmen from the fight so he could duel with his ward alone.
And as good as Yuichiro was, Guren knew the only reason she managed to last longer than the boys was because she was more intimately familiar with his fighting style as well as underhanded tricks, tricks as suave as pulling out magical talismans from his pocket or dirty little moves like tripping his opponent with his long legs if they came within his reach.
Guren also wasn't above making verbal taunts or provocative facial expressions capable of inciting even vampires who were assumed to have no emotions.
Trying not to let the sight of her mentor's shit-eating grin rile her into losing her focus, Yuichiro gritted her teeth and was about to make a barb to wipe it off his face when she suddenly noticed something a little off about her opponent.
It was that he actually had no scent.
As soon as the ravenette realized that, she called for her demon contractor.
"Asuramaru, destroy that illusion!"
In answer, the boy demon chuckled as if he expected his mistress to see through the illusion.
"Very good, Yuu! I'm glad you've finally figured it out, but don't let your guard down because it's not over yet!"
Yuichiro said nothing but quickly sliced the illusion of her mentor in half by activating the power of her demon sword before quickly turning around just in time to meet the blade of the real Guren with her own.
"Oh, so you've finally figured it out, eh, Yuichiro?" the older man teased with a smirk as they locked swords. "Took you long enough!"
The ravenette glared at her mentor. It didn't take long for her to figure out which one of him was the illusion because Guren's double did not have the scent of what she knew to be his favorite cologne: Gravity, by Coty. *4*
"You underestimate me! Even now, you still take my sword fighting skills far too lightly, sir!" she snapped.
To that, Guren laughed in amusement as he pressed his blade a little harder against Yuichiro's and bent over slightly to look her in the eye.
"On the contrary, my dear. I take your sword-fighting skills very seriously. It is you I take lightly!"
"Why, you pompous ass!" Yuichiro shrieked furiously as she summoned all her strength to push her arrogant opponent back, obviously not caring that she had just addressed her guardian as well as superior officer in a less-than respectful manner in front of everyone.
Asides from Guren's taunts, Yuichiro had begun to notice cheering as well as whispers coming from the soldiers in the background, something she had not noticed before until Satoshi and Kimizuki were taken out of the fight, leaving her to fend against Guren alone. Yuichiro knew the other soldiers were impressed because they probably did not expect her to last longer than her more robust male sword-fighting comrades. Despite the Demon Army being equal in its treatment of male and female soldiers, the women still often found themselves having to work harder to prove themselves and Yuichiro was no exception.
But unknown to them, Yuichiro could read and predict Guren's moves well enough to meet his blade blow for blow, as well as evade attacks that finally forced Satoshi and Kimizuki out of the fight. For as long as Yuichiro had known him, Guren favored a more direct and aggressive approach to combat, focusing more on offense than defense; his style was to attack non-stop so that his opponent wouldn't have any chance to counter. Most would call Guren's approach risky, but it worked for him considering that he had the size and strength to back it up. *5*
Yuichiro, on the other hand, formed her style on a balance of offensive and defensive fighting, often relying on the agility her smaller and lighter form allowed her. Like Guren, Yuichiro also preferred to attack non-stop and strike down her enemies before they could get close enough to hurt her. But when that wasn't possible because she was facing someone larger and stronger than herself, Yuichiro turned to defensive fighting, waiting for her opponent to make a mistake before counter-attacking. At times, she could even create an opening if an opportunity presented itself.
"Wow, that girl is really something if she can hold her own against the lieutenant colonel!" Makoto Narumi, exclaimed in admiration as he watched Guren and Yuu with his arms crossed. "And for a moment there, I thought that sword of hers was just for show, but it looks like she actually knows how to use it!"
While Narumi was in complete awe of Yuichiro's fighting abilities, the raven-haired man standing next to him had additional thoughts.
"Not only that, she's got a nice pair of legs too!" he exclaimed with a grin while letting his eyes roam the perfect figure of the cute little green-eyed spitfire dueling with the commander of the Moon Demon Company.
Yuichiro moved in such a graceful, feminine manner that it almost looked like she was dancing around Guren. When faced with attacks she knew she could not block or deflect, she would spin out of his reach on tiptoe, while strikes that had bowled over Satoshi and Kimizuki whirled past her.
Not only was Shusaku Iwasaki admiring Yuichiro's sword-fighting skills, but also her shapely legs as she used them to side-step Guren's attacks, spinning to build up momentum and put as much force as she can into her thrusts.
That, and her luscious bum *6* whenever she performed a move such as a feint followed by her tucking into a roll to strike at Guren's flank, that made her tiny skirt fly up just enough for him to catch a glimpse of it.
"Shh! Watch your mouth, Shusaku! They'll hear you!" Narumi hissed while elbowing the other man lightly in the ribs as he struggled to keep a grin from forming on his own face. As much as Narumi might have agreed with his friend's sentiment, the young sergeant had no desire to be on the receiving end of Guren's displeasure for speaking about his ward in such a way.
Yuichiro blushed furiously as she did her best not to let her embarrassment show at Shusaku Iwasaki's lecherous remark. Though she and Guren had sparred many times in the past as she was growing up, the ravenette was not used to dueling with her guardian in front of an audience. And if she didn't know better, Yuichiro would think that Guren was actually enjoying all this.
"That was adorable, Yuu! I thought I taught you better than that!" the older man teased, repeating the words he said to her the day he brought her to the waterfall grounds to train. *7*
And as if his words weren't irritating enough when it was only between the two of them then, the bastard just had to say it again, this time in front of a crowd of soldiers, just to rile Yuichiro.
But unlike before, she had the luxury of making her guardian pay for that barb since they were not standing on the slippery, uneven ground of the waterfall like they did that day.
Knowing that Yuichiro was going to kick him for what he just said, Guren shifted his left arm downward slightly until a magical talisman dropped from inside his sleeve and attempted to slap it to her forehead.
"Watch out, Yuu! It's an explosion ward!" Shinoa cried out from behind her. "I'll disenchant it!"
Drawing back her scythe, Shinoa attempted to disengage from Mito to do just that when she felt the weight of someone jumping on the flat of her weapon's blade and holding it down. Turning, Shinoa saw her scarlet-haired opponent interrupting her attempt to assist Yuichiro.
"Not a chance, girl," Mito sneered before tossing the unarmed Mitsuba, whom she had been holding by the scruff her neck, to the cold, hard ground. From the look of things, Mito had defeated the blonde girl before picking her up like a hunter would to a prey animal they had just taken down.
Not like Yuichiro needed her squad leader's assistance, at least not for this duel. She knew exactly what Guren was up to. Though the older man had specifically instructed his squad not to teach her how to use magical talismans before he thought she was ready, Shinya finally gave in and showed Yuichiro how they worked after she had sweet-talked him into it.
Moving quickly, the Yuu lashed out with her sword and quickly sliced the cursed piece of paper in half before it could touch her skin. But she wasn't through with Guren yet; Yuichiro was determined to get back at him for embarrassing her in front of the entire MDC.
"Now to end this farce!" Yuichiro shrieked as she drew back her sword with both hands and finally made a mad dash for her mentor, who had backed off after failing to get his talisman on her.
"Whoa, are you serious?" Guren cried in mock fear while feigning an expression of terror to match before his face broke out in a mischievous grin.
"Just kidding! I knew you were going to do that!"
Moving aside slightly, the lieutenant colonel finally called for his best friend and trump card in his duel against Yuichiro.
"She's all yours, Shinya!" he called as he made a gesture with his arm.
Aiming his demon rifle at Yuichiro, the major general smirked.
"Now, let's see how well you've been paying attention to your sniping lessons, my dear…" he said softly before firing.
As he predicted, the younger girl saw through him right away and, without stopping, reached for the semi-automatic she always kept at her side before aiming it at him and calling for her demon once more.
"Asuramaru, enchant these bullets," Yuichiro ordered.
The demon obeyed and lent his power to his mistress's back-up weapon, a clever strategy to use against an opponent that was out of range though it came at the price of her sword being weakened briefly until the bullets struck their target. *8*
When Yuichiro finally fired, the bullets from her semi-automatic took on the shape of large bats of green light to meet and dissipate Shinya's white tiger projectiles. And instead of being shocked or annoyed, the major general actually smiled in amusement.
"Excellent, Yuu! Just what I expect of my favorite sniping student!" he exclaimed proudly.
"Unfortunately, it's not going to be enough," Guren said coldly as he quickly took over the confrontation with Yuichiro.
The ravenette grinned at her mentor before finally doing something even he did not expect: instead of putting her semi-automatic back in its holster at her side, Yuichiro suddenly chose to throw it straight at Guren. Like the shoe she threw in his face the time he opened her bedroom door without knocking and saw her in her lingerie, Yuichiro aimed for the spot between Guren's eyes. *9*
After all, if her mentor didn't mind fighting dirty or using underhanded tricks, why should she?
Not wanting to get stuck with another unbecoming bruise on his forehead from the pistol, especially if Mahiru-no-Yo decided to prank him again by not healing it right away, Guren lifted his sword to cut it in half. In that split second of distraction on his part, Yuichiro finally closed the distance between them with her sword drawn.
Ignoring the pieces of the destroyed firearm that were now flying into his face, Guren spun around and brought his blade to the back of Yuichiro's neck but not before she managed to bring her blade to the back of his as well.
Which now landed them in an awkward position that had more than a few soldiers in their audience whistling.
With his right leg outstretched and hooked slightly behind hers as well as his right shoulder touching her left, Guren found himself standing chest-to-chest with Yuichiro. And, as if that wasn't enough, their faces were barely an inch apart, their lips almost touching, at least to their audience
Yuichiro felt her face growing as red as a tomato even as she tried to maintain a neutral expression and keep Asuramaru firmly in her grip. And though Guren was better at controlling his emotions, Yuichiro still caught the faint blush creeping on his cheeks as if he was every bit as embarrassed as she was; he just happened to be better at hiding it.
For a moment, the pair remained at a standstill until they heard Shinya clearing his throat in the background accompanied by some snickering.
"You lovebirds done yet?" he teased.
Were Yuichiro's blade not so dangerously close to his neck, Guren would have spun around and told Shinya to shut his trap. Instead, he chose the safer alternative and lowered his weapon, prompting his ward to do the same. Since neither of them managed to gain the upper hand, Guren finally acknowledged their duel ending in a draw to save them both further embarrassment.
Sheathing his sword, Guren attempted to change the subject.
"Very good, Yuichiro. You've improved a lot. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same of your comrades."
Knowing that it was exactly as she feared, Yuichiro turned around and saw that Guren was right; the rest of her squad mates have been soundly defeated. The sight of both squads helping each other to their feet while Guren's squad remained with hardly a scratch confirmed it.
Turning to Shinoa and Satoshi, Guren said:
"I'm disappointed in both of you. With six Black Demon users between your squads and this is the best you can do? The vampire nobles are far stronger than us, and they won't hold back. Out of all of you, only Yuichiro is still standing, so to speak. However, she alone cannot make up for the rest of your incompetence. If you brats don't get your act together and learn to work like a real team, you won't last five seconds against the nobles. Do you understand?"
Though the older man's words were harsh, everyone knew he was right. And to be honest, Yuichiro was glad to have something, anything, to make them forget what happened between Guren and herself only moments before.
Turning away from Guren, Yuichiro sheathed Asuramaru without a word and stood there for a few moments in silence as if contemplating something. Her actions did not go unnoticed by her mentor, and he called out to her.
"What's the matter, Yuu?"
Crossing her arms, the ravenette threw her ponytail over her shoulder and shot him a blank stare before answering.
"Oh, nothing, sir. I'm just thinking how much easier this fight could have been if I had a bit more assistance from my squad mates."
Guren smiled before approaching his young ward while sheathing his own sword.
"So what are you trying to say, Yuu?" he pressed, already knowing the answer.
Yuichiro fought down another blush before answering.
"That I suppose I can't do everything by myself, no matter how good a fighter I am," she confessed, not wanting to admit that she did like being close to Guren, even in that awkward moment.
The older man laughed softly as he bent over slightly and pressed a gentle kiss to the side of Yuichiro's mouth. *10*
"Good girl! I'm glad you finally get it after all this time!" he teased.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" the younger girl demanded, blushing furiously as she turned her head away from Guren. "We're in public here! I thought you said you can't stand PDA!" *11*
"Hmm… maybe. But I'm in a good mood now so I'll make an exception for today."
"Hmph! Never mind that, sir. Don't you have a mission to lead now?" Yuichiro asked, trying to change the subject.
Guren nodded before becoming serious again.
"You're right, Yuu, I do." Turning to Makoto Narumi, the young brunet sergeant who was eyeballing Yuichiro with his subordinate earlier, he said, "Despite what you've seen, these newbies do have a lot of potential. I'm putting you in charge of Shinoa and Satoshi's squads for this mission."
Narumi was startled at the sudden order. Managing his own squad was already enough work and the last thing he needed was to be put in charge of two additional squads of newbies.
"Sir, please reconsider your decision!" he protested. "These kids are clearly not ready for real battle; if we take them along, they'll only drag us down!"
Guren's eyes glittered dangerously at the younger man who dared to question his orders.
"Oh? Well, if I heard right, you thought my ward was an impressive fighter and your subordinate thought she had a nice pair of legs, so I imagined you'd be thrilled to have Yuichiro on your team. The rest of these kids also have the same fighting potential and with a bit of guidance, they'll be just as useful as Yuichiro herself."
Narumi gulped nervously at the other man's words and silently cursed himself (and Shusuku) for opening their big mouths while they watched Guren and Yuichiro duel; it turned out the two had sharper ears than they thought. But now it was too late, and Narumi knew he could not refuse his superior's orders as head of the Ichinose Clan as well as the Moon Demon Company.
"Yes, sir," Narumi said as he refrained from sighing in frustration and disappointment.
Now that he knew he had Narumi's cooperation, Guren made a gesture for Yuu as well as the rest of Shinoa and Satoshi's squads to approach.
"Good! Everyone, this is Sergeant Makoto Narumi and his squad, Rika Inoue, Shusaku Iwasaki, Taro Kagiyama, and Yayoi Endo. They're a fine team and will train all of you well, provided that you follow instructions. That will be all."
Like Narumi himself, Yuichiro wasn't thrilled to be teamed up with his squad and hoped that she could at least reason with Guren as his ward. But before Yuu could protest, Guren turned to Shigure and gave his next order.
"Shigure, I want you to rearrange the team roisters and join Shinoa and Satoshi's squads with Narumi's."
"Yes, sir."
Now that her mentor's decision was final, Yuichiro knew the discussion was over and had to refrain from groaning in disappointment as she watched Guren walk away to give orders to the rest of the MDC.
After Guren had left and was out of earshot, Yuichiro looked up and saw Narumi quietly approach her with a solemn look in his brown eyes. The young sergeant looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated as if he wasn't sure how to say it.
"Yes, what is it?" Yuichiro asked.
After another moment of silence, Narumi sighed and finally said:
"I'm sorry."
Yuichiro stared at him in confusion.
"For what?" she asked.
"For what Shusuku and I said. Though we truly meant them as praise, I realize our words were totally inappropriate and want to apologize if we offended you and your guardian."
Yuichiro looked down slightly and shook her head.
"Forget it," she said. "We've got more important things to worry about now. And since we are going to be working together, I think it's in both of our best interests to get along."
And with that, Yuichiro offered her hand to the older man. After everything she had been through, the ravenette wasn't going to exert effort holding a grudge against someone for a few less-than-appropriate comments.
Relieved that Yuichiro was willing to let his and Shusuku's comments slide, Narumi took her hand and gave it a firm shake.
"I agree," he said. "Although working with two squads of newbies wasn't something I had planned on, we're all going to have to make the best of it from now on. I trust you, but please do everything you can to make sure your other squad mates keep up, ok? That's all I ask of you."
"Of course, Narumi-san."
"Thank you."
After accepting Narumi's apology, Yuichiro watched him and his squad leave in silence. When the ravenette thought she was finally alone again, she heard another voice coming from behind her.
"I'm sorry too, Yuu…" Shinoa said quietly.
Turning around, Yuichiro found her squad leader as well as comrades from both squads gathered around them.
"You've already apologized once, Shinoa. There's no need to do so again," Yuichiro said wearily, tired of hearing constant apologies all day.
The purple-haired girl shook her head.
"No, I do. I actually owe everyone here an apology; if it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have had to take on Guren's squad and be trounced by them in front of the entire MDC."
Satoshi snorted but his sour expression soon lightened and he gave the other squad leader a good-natured smile.
"Normally, I'd agree with you, Miss Hiragi, but being hazed by our higher-ups may not be such a bad thing after all. We'll just take it as a learning experience to improve our team-work."
"I think so, too," Kimizuki agreed. "What else can we do?"
"Not much…" Daisuke answered grimly as he remembered how Shigure managed to tear his whip out of his hands with her kunai and cords.
"At least nobody was seriously hurt," Yoichi added, trying to cheer everyone up.
Takeshi snorted and crossed his arms, clearly disagreeing with his sniping partner.
"Speak for yourself, Saotome! I seriously thought the major general was going to kill us with those tiger blasts."
The Harada twins giggled. "You've always been one for dramatizing, Takeshi," Risa pointed out.
"Oh? And how did you two fare against the lieutenants?" Mitsuba asked as she rubbed the back of her neck with her hands where Mito's rough grip on her still ached. Had the older woman not held back when she grabbed her, Mito could have easily snapped Mitsuba's neck like a dried twig.
"Like any member of Guren's squad, they were tough, but I did not sense any true malice in their attacks," Riku answered. "And at least they were nice enough to back off when they saw we've had enough; Lieutenant Hanayori says she believes we can learn what we need to without unnecessary pain and suffering."
"That sounds just like her," Yuichiro agreed while remembering how much she appreciated Sayuri's teaching methods and preferred them over Guren's. "And I'm sure she's logical enough to realize that we'd all end up useless if we got hurt too badly."
"True. If only Colonel Jujo shared that sentiment," Mitsuba said grimly before turning back to Shinoa, her expression softening. "Look, I know you feel bad about what happened, but it wasn't just you. I was screwing around too. But that's all past now. If we want to help this mission succeed, we're still going to need our squad leader."
Shinoa was silent for a moment before shaking her head sadly.
"I know. But I don't think I'm cut out for the job after all."
"Hey, don't say that, Shinoa. Just because you made one mistake doesn't mean you're an incompetent squad leader. It just means you need to learn from that mistake and move on," Yuichiro said kindly, feeling sympathetic for the other girl.
And, knowing Shinoa, Yuichiro wasn't surprised to see that her squad leader didn't stay depressed for long.
"You're right! We'll take this as a learning experience and come back better than ever!"
Glad that she was finally able to lift Shinoa's spirits again, Yuichiro took the opportunity to look up at the sky as her mind wandered back to the one friend she still needed to find to make her little family complete.
Just you wait, Mika. I'm coming for you…
Footnotes:
1. The sai is a traditional piercing melee weapon used in Okinawa. The basic form of the weapon is that of a pointed, prong shaped metal baton, with two curved prongs (yoku) projecting from the handle (tsuka). There are many different types of sai with varying prongs for trapping and blocking. Often used in pairs, they are still referred to as "sai" whether singular or plural.
2. In canon, Shigure is the most silent of Guren's squad. She prefers to let Sayuri do most of the talking when they're in social situations together and almost never talks while fighting, only obeying Guren's orders. But for my AU, I've decided to make her a bit more talkative to keep things interesting.
3. In the anime, DN Angel, Krad is very cold towards Satoshi even though he pretends to care about him. In my AU, Krad is the least trustworthy of all the Black Demon series even though he likes to pretend otherwise.
4. Goshi's illusions look identical to the person they imitate and can talk and fight like them. But the one thing Goshi's illusions cannot imitate is scent and those with a sharp sense of smell or abilities similar to Shinoa's can tell them apart. In my AU, fem!Yuu was able to detect Guren's illusion because it lacked the scene of his favorite cologne, Gravity, which is a classic scent by Coty.
5. From my observation of Guren in the manga and anime, he is a very aggressive fighter and seems to favor all-out, direct attacks against his opponents. His size and strength as well as sword-fighting skills affords him this luxury. Male!Yuu also seems to like fighting like Guren but since fem!Yuu is a bit smaller and weaker, she has to balance her fighting style between offensive and defensive to adapt to opponents of different size and strength.
6. "Bum" is a British slang for the buttocks and I've often heard the word "Luscious" which means sexually enticing, accompanying it.
7. Refer to "Who She is Within", chapter 17.
8. The concept of a demon being able to enchant other weapons their wielder may carry with their power is something I made up entirely. It may or may not be possible in canon.
9. Refer to "Who She is Within", chapter 19.
10. Guren shows physical affection to male!Yuu by ruffling his hair. For fem!Yuu, he kisses the side of her mouth to symbolize his semi-romantic as well as brotherly/fatherly affection for her all in one.
11. PDA means "public display of affection".
