Disclaimer: I do not own Owari no Seraph (Seraph of the End). I write this for your enjoyment only. This story is an alternate version of the Nagoya Arc with differences from the original; please refer to the footnotes at the end. Once again, I would like to thank my beta readers, Residential Psycho and Falchion1984, for their help in making this fic possible. Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 31: Death Comes from Above Part II

"Oh, no! She's falling!" Riku screamed while pointing one of her sai at her now wingless squad mate, Yuichiro.

"Dammit, what're we gonna do, Shinoa!?" Mitsuba cried as she watched helplessly.

Shinoa gritted her teeth. Her guess was as good as Mitsuba's, but they both knew that unless something was done and quick, Yuichiro would soon be nothing more than a broken and bloody mess on the cold hard concrete.

"I can try catching her with Genbushin!" Narumi suggested as he swung his trident and started focusing on conjuring the shield he hoped would be enough to break Yuichiro's fall so that the impact would not be fatal.

"No, wait, I have a better idea! Leave it to me!" Risa insisted as she brought both of her arms together in a parallel position towards the sky where Yuichiro was falling. With a flick of her wrists she summoned the power of her war fans to produce gales of conjured wind to halt Yuichiro's rapid decent in mid-air, much to the amazement of everyone who witnessed it, and slowly brought her safely to the ground.

Upon witnessing the scene, Mika finally released the anxious breath he had been holding and, from the look on Krul's face, she seemed to share his relief.

"It looks like she's reverted. Good. Now it's up to you to retrieve Yuichiro. Bring her to me, and I'll take care of the rest, Mikaela."

"I understand," Mika said softly as Krul finally released him from her hold.

Mikaela was about to make a quick bow to his queen before proceeding to carry out her order when he saw her eyes suddenly widen, and she quickly reached for him again.

Before he could ask her what she was doing, Krul grabbed and threw Mika behind herself and lashed out at his would-be attacker.

Turning, Mika saw Crowley sprawled on the ground with his sword arm torn right out of its socket. Had Krul not stopped him, the maroon-haired vampire lord might have run Mikaela through.

"You are bold trying to attack my son in front of me, Crowley," the vampire queen sneered.

Like Guren, Crowley was long past fearing death and smiled sweetly at Krul.

"I wouldn't dream of harming the dear prince, Your Majesty," he said.

Puzzled, Krul was about to demand an explanation from Crowley when another vampire lord saved her the trouble.

"Mika was never the target, my Queen. Your motherly concern for him has made you soft and careless. And as a result, you've left your lovely neck wide open…" Ferid's silken voice cooed from right behind Krul, his cold breath making her skin crawl.

Too late did the vampire queen realize that Ferid and Crowley had used Mika only as a distraction while she herself was their real target. Caught off guard, Krul found herself unable to fend off Ferid's attack when he suddenly grabbed her from behind and sank his fangs into her neck.

"Krul!" Mika cried after he quickly got back on his feet, his sword drawn and intending to come to her rescue.

Knowing that Mika would not be able to take on both Ferid and Crowley alone, Krul made a gesture with an outstretched hand to halt his advance.

"No, Mika! Don't worry about me, just get to Yuichiro before anyone else does!" she cried, even as she desperately tried to fend off her attacker and was growing weaker by the second from blood loss.

Mika gritted his teeth but knew he could not afford to waste precious time arguing with her. Hoping that his vampire mother would be all right, Mika quickly nodded and focused his attention on retrieving his sister.

However, Mikaela was not the only one. Furious that Yuichiro had foiled his plan to use the seraph-possessed Mirai Kimizuki to take down the entire vampire army, Kureto decided to make her his new weapon instead. With the advantage of being closer to Yuu than Mika was, Kureto tapped into Raimeki's power to enhance his strength and speed as he charged towards Yuichiro with the intention of subduing and capturing her himself. Seeing the recently reverted seraph girl awaken did not concern Kureto at first since he assumed she would be too weak to resist capture.

Unfortunately for the lieutenant general, that assessment was wildly off the mark; he had no idea just how much stronger she had become since they last dueled. And, with the strength her newly revealed seraph powers granted her, Yuu easily sent Kureto flying several dozen yards across the airport grounds with just one swift blow with Asuramaru.

Yuichiro released a ragged breath after forcing Kureto Hiragi back with ridiculous ease. It didn't take much effort on Yuu's part to shove him away when he tried to lock swords with her. The lieutenant general had to admit, at least to himself, that his brief duel with Yuichiro reminded him of the time he was forced to fight his half-sister, Mahiru, after she led an entire army of rebels against the Hiragi Clan.

But this time was different because Yuichiro's strength and power exceeded Mahiru's, as well as Mirai's, by far. In fact, Yuu was stronger than both of them combined which made her a terrifying force to be reckoned with.

But, as Yuu herself discovered, using such powers came with a price; once the overwhelming inhuman power faded from her body, weakness just as great overcame her. Her legs failed her, and she collapsed to the ground. Dust billowed around Yuichiro as she was too weak to even lift her face from the cold, hard concrete.

"What's happening to me, Asuramaru? Why can't I move or get up?" Yuichiro silently asked the demon within her mind.

"Why? Isn't it obvious, Yuu? You've completely exhausted yourself by blowing on that forbidden trumpet to save your family like you wanted. Did you think such an act would have no consequences?" the demon boy answered wryly.

Yuichiro was about to ask Asuramaru what he meant when she heard the footsteps of someone approaching. Looking up, the girl found herself gazing at thirty inches of dark, tempered steel belonging to a sword she recognized all too well. She also knew that there was only one man who could wield such a blade.

"Guren..." Yuichiro mumbled weakly as she struggled to lift her head and look at the man she had foolishly challenged to defend Mikaela.

Guren looked down at Yuichiro and regarded her rather coldly, the beautiful violet irises she had so admired still rimmed with red when he took her hostage in order to separate her from Mikaela.

"It's over, Yuichiro. You're coming with me now," Guren said simply as if he wasn't really giving her a choice in the matter.

Remembering Shinoa's warning about Guren being possessed, Yuichiro tried to prop herself on an elbow and reach for her sword when her guardian's voice stilled her hand.

"Don't bother, Yuu. We both know you don't have the strength to fight me. And even if you did, it still wouldn't be enough."

Yuichiro squeezed her eyes shut and tried to turn her head away so that Guren wouldn't see the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. She knew he was right; her back-to-back transformation in addition to holding Kureto off had depleted the last of her strength and now Yuichiro could barely even lift her head, let alone draw her sword and fight.

She was practically as weak as a baby, and just as defenseless.

"So, what are you going to do with me, sir?" Yuichiro asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Despite her exhaustion, Guren could still pick up the sarcasm and contempt in the honorific with which she addressed him.

"As I said, I'm taking you with me."

"Where?"

"You'll see..."

With that, Guren moved to sheath his sword as he stared down at his young ward.

Suddenly, the familiar voice of an angry young man rang out from above him.

"Get away from her, you filthy human!"

Looking up, Guren saw Mikaela swinging his blade down toward his head. With well-practiced ease, he blocked it with his cursed sword, his arm barely budging from the impact with his enhanced demonic strength.

Had Guren not reacted in time, the blond vampire's sword might have easily cleaved him in two with the force Mikaela put behind his attack.

"You never give up, do you, vampire?" Guren sneered as he forced Mikaela back with a powerful swipe. "Forget Yuichiro. She is lost to you. Leave now, and maybe I'll spare your life."

"Like hell I will!"

"Then you can die."

Knowing that there was nothing she could to stop Guren and Mikaela from trying and kill each other this time, especially in her drained state, Yuichiro desperately tried to reason with them, even though she could barely move.

"Guren… Mika…please don't…" the girl pleaded weakly as she tried to reach out to Guren and Mika, straining every fiber of her being just to keep her outstretched hand aloft.

But both men were too blinded by their obsession and jealousy to hear her.

Not that it would have made any difference if they had.

With their strength and agility evenly matched, the two men went at it again it with neither holding back and both hell-bent on destroying the other.

"You fight almost as well as a noble, human…" Mika admitted through gritted teeth as he and Guren locked swords again.

To this unexpected praise, the older man gave his infamous cocky grin that was capable of riling up even vampires, and Mika was no exception.

"Funny, I was about to say the same about you!" he shot back, hoping that the blond would take the bait.

However, Mikaela had learned enough of Guren's fighting style from their brief encounters to know that he liked to bait his opponents with insults and taunts as well as use other dirty underhanded tricks to gain an advantage. Mika also knew that for Yuu's sake, he had to keep his emotions under control and think strategically if he wanted to defeat Guren and take her back.

Resisting the urge to make a scathing reply to the older man's barb, Mika let his sword do the talking and used all his strength to shove Guren away before drawing back his sword as though he intended to make another direct strike to his opponent's torso.

As Mika hoped, Guren prepared for the attack but the blow never came. Instead, Mika pulled his sword back at the last second and hooked his right foot around Guren's left ankle and swiftly pulled it away, effectively making him lose his balance and fall over.

Before Guren could get up, he found the tip of Mika's sword at his throat and looked up at the vampire's new ruby eyes. Unlike the cold and emotionless orbs of his vampire brethren, Mika's eyes were full of contempt and looked as though he would love nothing more than to sever Guren's head from his neck or spear him through the throat.

Instead of begging for his life, the older man sneered at the blond who could very well be his executioner. Ironically, both men found themselves back in the same position after their first duel in Shinjuku. Only this time, Guren knew that Yuichiro wasn't in any position to come to his rescue. Still, Guren showed no signs of being intimidated by Mikaela.

"Go on…" he dared. "Without me, Yuichiro would be dead by now. Because of you."

Mikaela's face flushed an ugly red at Guren's cruel barb and smug look of satisfaction, painfully aware that his opponent had struck a nerve. Brief memories flickered across his mind's eye of Yuichiro being gouged in the back by Ferid's sharp talons as she struggled to get away when their escape plan to leave Sanguinem with their brothers and sisters went horribly awry, reopened old wounds for young blond.

For he knew it was his flawed leadership that got the rest of their siblings killed, had very nearly cost Yuichiro her life, and separated them for half a decade.

And had Guren not found and raised Yuichiro, she would have been be nothing more than a rotted corpse within days after she managed to escape alone to the desolate outside world while he lived on after being forcibly turned into a vampire by Krul Tepes.

Enraged at the comment, one they both knew was right on the mark, Mikaela finally decided to accept Guren's invitation and was about to put an end to the man's life once and for all when he heard Yuichiro call out to him.

"No, Mika, please!"

Keeping Guren at bay with his sword, Mika turned and looked over his shoulder to see Yuu finally managing to prop herself up on her elbows, though both arms trembled with the exertion, and give him a pleading look with tears in her eyes.

"Please, Mika…" she wailed. "Not like this…"

"Yuu-chan…" he began before turning back to look at his hated rival. As sorely tempted as he was to finish the job, Mikaela still could not bring himself to kill Guren in front of Yuichiro, though lord knows the man was asking for it.

In the end, he decided that his sister was his first priority. After giving Guren Ichinose one last hateful glare, Mikaela finally sheathed his sword and made his way to Yuichiro, who was stretching her arms out to him like a child wanting to be held.

Knowing that she was too weak to stand or walk on her own, Mika took the hint and lifted Yuu off the ground and into his arms once more before making off with her. As she looked over her brother's shoulder and watched her guardian grow smaller in the distance, Yuichiro heard the calm voice of Asuramaru.

"So, you've made your choice, Yuu?" he asked.

Yuichiro squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back tears.

"Yes…" she answered quietly.

In her mind's eye, Yuu saw Asuramaru frown and gave her a look akin to pity, something she didn't even think was possible for a demon.

"I'm sorry, Yuichiro. I've always known that you would eventually have to choose between Guren and Mikaela. I only wished that it didn't have to be this soon. But now that you've made your choice, you're going to have to live with it…"

"I know…"

Though Yuichiro agreed with Asuramaru, Guren himself, however, wasn't as willing to live with her choice. As he slowly rose to his feet, Guren felt the red rims around his irises burn, and he clenched his teeth while watching Mikaela Hyakuya run off with what should have been rightfully his.

"So be it…" he hissed, his voice full of venom. "Let it be war upon you both!"

In the depths of his mind, the lieutenant colonel heard wicked female laughter, as if his demon contractor found the whole situation hilarious.

"Ah, now that's more like it, my love!" Mahiru laughed. "Such passion, jealousy, and rage really bring out the fire in you! Now you know why I've chosen you over all others!"

"Shut your fucking trap, demon!" Guren roared before forcing himself to calm down. He knew that if he wanted Yuichiro back, he would simply have to go after Mikaela and take her from him by force.

But, before he could even take one step, Guren felt the tip of a bayonet in the back of his neck. Like with Mikaela, it wasn't hard enough to draw blood but more than enough to catch his attention.

"And just where do you think you're going, Guren?" Shinya demanded coldly.

"What does it look like, Shinya? I'm going to retrieve Yuichiro," Guren answered without turning around.

"You aren't going anywhere until you've explained yourself to me. To us."

At the mention of "us," Guren finally turned around and found himself confronted not only by Shinya, but also the rest of his own squad as well.

"Shinya is right," Mito said with her arms crossed. "You do owe us an explanation, Guren. What happened to Yuichiro was all your doing, wasn't it?"

"You give me too much credit, Mito," he replied without emotion.

Mito glared at him. "And what the hell's that supposed to mean?!" she demanded. "I've always wondered why you took Yuichiro in as a child, why you chose her out of the countless children orphaned by the apocalypse, and now I understand. Even I'm not gullible enough to believe you adopted her purely out of the goodness of your heart!"

Goshi frowned at Mito's accusation and gave Guren an inquiring look that was also couched in disappointment.

"Is that true, Guren? Is that all little Yuichiro ever was to you? Was that the reason you asked us all to train her? Why the deception, my lord?"

"I've never deceived any of you about my intentions towards Yuichiro," Guren answered sharply. "I wanted you all to help me condition her so that she could join us in our war against the vampires."

"But not like this!" Shinya shouted angrily as he finally lost his patience. "Do you have any idea what your sick little experiment and betrayal has cost us? What it costed Yuu herself!?"

Had Shigure not intervened by swiftly reaching out and pushing the top of his rifle down, Shinya might have lost it and fired at Guren.

"Calm down, Shinya," she said while trying to keep her own emotions in check before turning to the man in question. "We won't get any answers if you end up blowing Guren's head off."

"She's right," Goshi affirmed calmly. "Guren, I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Shinya and the others. You definitely owe us an explanation."

"And I have no time to give any of you one," he shot back coldly. "I must take Yuichiro back from that blond bastard she calls her 'brother.'"

"I'm afraid you aren't going anywhere until you've answered our questions, and answered them truthfully, sir," Sayuri replied sadly while turning to give Shigure a brief look.

Like Aoi Sangu, who had been groomed and conditioned from birth to serve Kureto Hiragi, both Sayuri and Shigure had been similarly groomed to serve Guren. But only Guren. Not the demon they suspected he was possessed by.

And if their hunch was correct, both women could use that loophole to question and defy him. *1*

Taking the hint, the rest of Guren's squad surrounded him, barring his escape. Possessed or not, even he could not take all of them on alone. And certainly not all at once. *2*

In the distance, Shinoa and Satoshi, who witnessed the scene along with their subordinates exhaled in relief that their superior's own squad was buying them time to escape with Yuichiro.

When Mikaela had finally caught up to the two junior squads with Yuichiro in tow, he found himself surrounded by all nine members, including Narumi.

"Thank God you've managed to get to her, Mika! How is she?" Shinoa asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," Yuichiro answered, saving her brother the trouble of guessing her condition. Which wasn't great but nothing she couldn't live with.

"That's a relief…" Satoshi breathed. "For a moment there, I was afraid you'd end up as a pancake on the asphalt if not for Risa's quick thinking," he said while nodding his head in his subordinate's direction.

Yuichiro gasped when she realized that she forgot to thank the squad mate to whom she owed her life.

"Risa, you were the one who got me safely to the ground, right? You have my gratitude."

"And mine as well," Mikaela added. For once, he decided to put aside his distrust of humans to give thanks where it was due.

"You're welcome," Risa said before she frowned slightly with worry. "What will you do now, Mikaela Hyakuya?"

"I have no choice but to take Yuu-chan as far away from here as possible. Though where we will go, I'm not certain yet."

"It's alright, we'll come along too," Shinoa announced. "There's no way we can let both of you fend for yourselves out there."

"Right," Satoshi agreed, knowing very well the other reason Shinoa wanted them to accompany the Hyakuya siblings. "We've already defied the Demon Army. If we stay behind, we'll definitely be branded as traitors, so it's safest for us if we no longer have anything to do with them.

"What do you mean?" Mitsuba demanded sharply. "Are you suggesting we desert?"

"No, more like 'quit,'" Shinoa corrected. Upon seeing Mitsuba hesitate at the idea, she continued. "Mi-chan, you know that we can't just leave Yuu and Mika to fend for themselves out there and neither can we stay with the Demon Army, not after what Kureto's done."

Mitsuba sighed in frustration, but she knew her squad leader was right.

"All right, we'll do it your way," she agreed.

"Hey, wait!" Kimizuki protested as he pointed in the direction of his sister, who had also reverted back to her human form after being defeated by Yuichiro and was now lying on the ground some distance away. "I can't just leave my sister!"

Shinoa raised her hand in an attempt to pacify her subordinate.

"It's all right, Kimizuki. Mirai will be safe for the time being because it will serve nii-san no purpose to harm her. We'll come back for her later, I promise you. But for now, we have to get away from here as soon as possible. Because everyone, humans and vampires alike, will be after Yuichiro now."

Kimizuki's brow furrowed in worry for his sister as he took another look at the comatose Mirai. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew as well as Shinoa did that they wouldn't be able to take Mirai with them. It would be impossible to provide the treatments she would need to keep her alive without the Demon Army's resources, especially while on the run from said army. *3*

"All right," he said, giving in, "But remember that I'll be holding you to that promise, Shinoa."

"Of course, Kimizuki," Shinoa assured him while trying hard not to roll her eyes since they have more important things to worry about at the moment. "So, are you ready, Satoshi?"

"Of course, Shinoa. Lead the way."

"Wait, I'm coming too," Narumi cut in before giving the junior squad leaders a smirk. "After all, you'll be needing a more experienced and responsible adult to make sure you brats don't get into trouble. Well, more than you're already in, anyway."

Before either Shinoa or Satoshi could reply, everyone heard the voices of a handful of Demon Army soldiers who were heading their way.

"Halt!" One of the them demanded. "On the orders of Lieutenant General Kureto Hiragi, you are to surrender Yuichiro Hyakuya to us!"

In response to their demands, Shinoa swiftly summoned her demon scythe, and took a sharp swing at the advancing soldiers, forcing them back.

"I'm sorry, but we no longer take orders from the lieutenant general. As of this moment, both the Shinoa and Satoshi's squads have officially quit the Demon Army. Please give nii-san my regards," she said coldly before turning to Yuu and Mika as well as her allies in both former squads.

Taking the hint, Yoichi and Takeshi took aim with their bows and fired several arrows in the direction of Kureto's soldiers in order to buy time for their allies to escape.

Once they were certain the rain of arrows they created had provided enough of a distraction with the other soldiers scrambling to avoid getting hit by them, Yoichi and Takeshi turned and made their own escape until they eventually caught up to their other squad mates.

Crowley, who had watched the entire spectacle unfold from a distance with amusement, turned to Ferid and asked:

"Should we go after them, My Lord?"

Ferid smiled and merely shook his head.

"No, we can let them go for now. It's not like a couple of kids can get that far on their own. For now, my true objective is achieved."

Crowley raised a brow. "And what objective would that be? Don't you think you went a little too far by laying your hands on and sinking your teeth into Queen Krul?"

"Well, I'll be! You're actually concerned for my safety, Lord Crowley? I'm touched!", Ferid exclaimed in his usual annoying happy sing-song tone before reaching for the fallen vampire queen, Krul Tepes, who lay comatose on the ground before him, and grew serious again. "You need not worry about that, Crowley. The higher progenitors won't be as concerned about my little rebellious act against our dear queen when the humans have done far worse: they've broken all the taboos and completed not one, but two Seraphs of the End for all the world to see. And now that they know, it won't be long before our noble brethren gather here from around the world to discuss on how to deal with them. In the meantime…"

"In the meantime?"

Ferid smirked as he took Krul and lifted her up in the air by the scruff of her neck like an animal and shook her roughly before raising his voice to catch the attention of all the nearby vampires.

"Attention my vampire brethren! I have discovered a traitor among us! She is none other than our own Queen Krul Tepes, who had a hand in the creation of the Seraph of the End! It was she who is responsible for the countless deaths of our own kind that we have witnessed today, and so, I therefore exercise my authority to remove her from power as punishment for this act of treason and take my place as your new ruler and commander! From now on, all of you gathered here will follow MY orders!"

At this shocking revelation, the vampire soldiers stared slack-jawed at Ferid.

"What? Is that true?" they whispered amongst themselves. "What are we going to do now?"

Once Ferid knew he had the lower-ranking soldiers right where he wanted them, he seized the opportunity to gain their confidence, especially considering that he knew a good number of them have had a strong dislike and distrust of him in the past.

"I assure you that all I've said is true!" he insisted. "Can you all really trust the former queen after what you've witnessed today? Do any of you really want to risk being branded as traitors yourselves and charged with treason against our kind by the other progenitors if you continue to follow her?"

If the other vampires had any thoughts of remaining loyalty towards Krul or lingering doubts about his ominous portents, Ferid had quickly crushed them with his statement. While none of them had any love for him, they clearly did not want to endanger their own lives for Krul's sake either.

"Very well, my lord," one of the soldiers spoke up. "We will follow you!"

"Good!" Ferid replied, his light-hearted playful demeanor gone and replaced with a seriousness more befitting of a vampire commander. Even Crowley was impressed but pretended otherwise as he and the rest of the vampire army awaited Ferid's orders.

"As the new commander of this faction, I, Ferid Bathory, hereby order all of you to destroy the humans and their vile experiments! Now attack!"

"Yes, sir!" They cried in unison as they moved to obey his orders and turn on the human soldiers who were barely recovering themselves after suffering their own fair share of casualties from Mirai's and Yuichiro's seraph-induced rampage.

On the other side of the field, Aoi examined Kureto's injuries. While attempting to subdue and capture Yuichiro, the younger girl had launched him across the airport ground, shredding his skin and clothes across the pavement.

"Are you all right, sir?" Aoi asked with a look of genuine concern on her face.

"I'm fine," the lieutenant general insisted while trying not to show his utter humiliation at having been defeated by Yuichiro so easily. Trying to change the subject, he asked instead, "Have any of our soldiers succeeded in capturing Hyakuya?"

Aoi was about to say "no" when Kureto noticed her eyes widening in fear as she pointed over his shoulder.

"We've got bigger problems to worry about now, sir! It's the vampires! They're coming!" she cried.

Cursing under his breath, Kureto turned around and saw the advancing vampire soldiers heading their way. Or what was left of them. Not that his own army of human soldiers were that much better off, but if the vampires still wanted to fight, he had no choice but to oblige them.

"Very well," Kureto began before he quickly pulled himself together and gave his own waiting troops his orders.

"Everyone! The enemy is coming! Do whatever it takes to destroy them!"

"Yes, sir!"

At the sound of the two armies clashing once again, everyone in the Shinoa and Satoshi's squads as well as Narumi and Mika, turned around briefly.

"I can't believe either side can keep going after what just happened," Satoshi said grimly.

Shinoa managed a tired smile and patted her fellow squad leader on the shoulder.

"It's alright, Mr. Hiwatari. This is just the kind of distraction we need to get away. Now that my brother has his hands full with trying to fend off the vampires and their commander, he won't be able to spare any of his own soldiers to come after us. Not after all the casualties they've sustained."

"I suppose you're right," Satoshi replied as he looked over to Mika who was still carrying Yuu in his arms, as well as the rest of their subordinates in both squads. Shinoa was right. Considering that they both had every member of their two squads alive and accounted for as well as Narumi to aid them, Satoshi really couldn't complain and smiled at Shinoa.

Mikaela, who was getting slightly impatient since he was eager to get Yuichiro to safety, cleared his throat to catch the attention of the two junior squad leaders.

"Ahem! In case you two haven't noticed, we're not out of danger just yet."

Narumi could not help but smirk in amusement at Mika's impatience.

"Very good, Hyakuya! I'm beginning to think you'd make an even better squad leader than those two rascals!" he teased while ignoring the slightly dirty looks Shinoa and Satoshi were giving him.

Trying not to blush, Mika brushed off Narumi's compliment.

"Never mind that!" he said. "Right now, our first priority is to get as far away from here as possible," he said before turning to the rest of the two squads. "I trust we are all in agreement?"

"Yes!"

Without any further ado, the former squads as well as their new vampire ally raced off into the sunset, away from the two clashing armies, leaving behind a lost past and heading towards an uncertain, yet hopeful future.

Footnotes:

1. As servants of the Ichinose family, Sayuri and Shigure are expected to obey Guren's every wish and order without question. However, they are not required to obey Mahiru-no-Yo, his demon, thus using this fact as a loophole to defy Guren and keep Yuichiro out of his hands for the time being.

2. Possessed Guren is depicted as insanely powerful in canon, capable of challenging even a vampire progenitor alone. I made him a bit weaker in my fic so that he could be stopped by Mikaela and his own squad from taking Yuichiro back.

3. In canon, Kimizuki was the one who suggested leaving Mirai behind for the time being, which struck me as strange considering how protective he was of her. Later on, I realize it was likely he knew that it would not have been possible for him and his friends to keep her alive while on the run and without the Demon Army's resources so I made that clearer in my story.