It was like Mika's very own soul was splitting. He was basking in the coziness of the room, the sound of his family sleeping after a day of all games and chase. He watched as Yuu smoothed his own bed sheets after a last check on the kids, resting his head on fluffy pillows that smelled of lavender softener. He sighed softly, a content smile on his lips as he slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to where Mika was sitting.
"You're going to sleep now?" It sounded like an innocent question, but Mika couldn't help but snicker at it's convenient double meaning.
"Already am." Mika turned his blue eyes to the night sky, thankful that he could feel again the sleepiness that came with being a human. "It's just that..."
He heard Yuu get up and slowly made his way to him. He grabbed his hand and waited for Mika to continue. Mika kept trying to focus on the stars above, shimmering and glowing like they never did in Sanguinem. His eyes started to lose their shine, his mind closing off to his surroundings. He felt like he was in two places at a time. And almost automatically, he continued.
"...this feels so..."
He kept on the look out, the broken arrows on this hands disintegrating and leaving nothing behind. He could feel the numerous portals to this safe space, opening and closing. He knew the others were in, and he ran around the perimeter to either fight of diverge their attention.
It took a while to level things out, and he never lowered his guard. After turning on a street corner, his hand had already manifested a cross, ready to strike the intruder. He watched as the other's head turned, black hair matching his uniform and green eyes widening, and he couldn't help but feel that he was seeing all of this in slow motion.
"Mika..." The soft whisper ringed in his ears and resonated inside his head. It was curious to him, because the others knew his status, they knew he was King. And yet, this one welcomed him with a name.
He didn't speak, didn't lower his weapon and didn't take his blue eyes off of green ones. He did, however, stopped a few meter away, assessing the situation, feeling everything and nothing at once.
The stranger slowly started to close the distance between them, stretching his hand out. And to answer his approach, blue eyes sharpened and he slowly raised his cross so if the other came closer, the sharp edge would be right against his neck.
The other didn't flatter, but he did stop at the edge of the cross that nicked at the skin on his neck, a small cut opening like a flower petal. His smile matched perfectly the happiness that was shining in his green eyes, and he repeated the same name, only a little louder.
He slowly started to let the nagging voice in his head become clear, like part of himself was answering to the name, and he stepped back so that the others neck was free to bleed if it desired to do so.
"I've been looking for you." He didn't even wipe the small droplet of blood that clung to his cut, instead directing all his attention to the blond.
"I'm sure you have. What do you want?" If he entered using the same doors that his evident enemies had, he couldn't be anything other than a threat.
"I'm here for-"
"Leave him alone." He had asked the question to see if the other was going to attack either way, but he knew why everyone suddenly gathered to corner him, and him.
The other's smile turned sorrowful, his eyes lowering for a moment.
"I can't."
"He deserves people that would support him, not use him. He isn't disposable."
"I know-"
"And he deserves to be chosen."
Green eyes looked up again, a question in his eyes. For some reason, that only started to irritate him. Raising his cross once more, this time with intent, he said with eyes turning to ice.
"He deserves to be listened to. To be taken into account seriously, not only when it's convenient. To be something other than an experiment, a tool, an excuse. His words do have meaning. He should be able to chose what he wants, not what you or the others want. His life isn't yours to do as you please, Yuu."
The name came from deep within, like a melody played in his head over and over and over again.
There was silence as he turned to leave. This human, even if he possessed a demon, was hollow. His darkness was being used by others, and he needed to get rid of the intruders, to protect this place.
"I know that!"
He stopped, not because of the high pitch that was shouted his way, but because he needed to see if the others heard it, giving him away.
"I know all of that! He is my family, but he doesn't belong to me! He is a vampire, but he doesn't belong to Kurl! And he wants to be human, but he doesn't belong to Guren or Mahiru or the Seraph or anyone!"
Blue spotted purple and white, and he knew his time was up. He readied himself, as collected and calm as stone. But the enemy slowed down, stayed in the shadows as the green eyed soldier overflowed with emotions.
"But I can't leave him! I want to be able to give back what he has given me. I want to show him what the vampires couldn't, what the world couldn't: that he has value, that he is strong, that in everything he did, he protected us the best he could. That he isn't fading away, he isn't a monster, he isn't useless, he isn't replicable nor replaceable."
His hyper sensitive ears could hear water hitting pavement, shaky inhales and an erratic heartbeat.
"And even with everything I have; power, a cause, friends, a new family... It was all because of him. And I need him."
Time slowed down once more, because he was part of a consciousness that always reached out for this boy. His physical form shifted, because he was a projection of memories. He started to collect flashes of moments in time where his only light always came with eyes as green as the forest.
He could now sense the other approach him, and this time, he let it happen.
"How could anyone understand..."
He was taller, his clothing civilian. His hand heavy with the ghost feeling of a sword that just wasn't there anymore. And he felt vulnerable, so his crosses made a wall around the two, pulsing with power and impenetrable.
"How could he ever understand..."
He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned. He now looked down at the other, and he recognized those tears, for he had seen them and heard them before. A tan had now caressed his check, almost lovingly as he was pulled closer.
"How could you ever understand..."
And everything was happening in a way that had never happened before. Because demons didn't harbor individual feelings, clones didn't disobey, vampires couldn't cry and only humans could bask in the warmth of a kiss.
"How precious you are, Mika."
