Chapter 1: The Two Angels

{Four Years Later: Shibuya High School: June 2nd 2020, 2:56pm}

"Damn you Guren….I'll get you for this…." Muttered a boy as he walked down a corridor in the high school.

"Seriously? Why do you have to get so irritated with Guren all the time?" asked a blonde-haired, blue-eyed teenager as he walked beside his brother.

"Because! He makes fun of not only the fact that I have trouble making friends – which I find downright imprudent – but he also makes fun of my personal life and yours, too! So why are you so lax about it Mika?" sapphire-eyes looked to emerald-green ones as he smiled.

"Did he call you a cherry boy again?" the black-haired sixteen-year-old named Yuuichiro Hyakuya rolled his eyes.

"When did he stop calling both of us that?" they heard a giggle after the statement, causing the two of them to look behind them.

"My, you two are his favorites. I guess I can see why!" the person before them, was the periwinkle-haired, tangerine-eyed girl known as Shinoa Hiragi. A Japanese Imperial Demon Army surveillance officer who had been assigned to observe them after they were put on suspension for slaying a Four Horseman of John roughly eight-and-a-half months ago.

"Remind me how you ended up tailing us?" asked Yuu as he looked at the girl.

"Just reasons….the same reasons that cause Guren to think neither of you could handle being in the Moon Demon Company. Despite that, I was told that if you two don't make a friend, then you're going to be on probation longer!" Shinoa seemed to gloat slightly while the two brothers gave her a rather startled expression.

"What?!" she put a finger to her lips as if she was almost thinking.

"You know as well as I do what it means. He said that we don't need cherry boys who can't make friends or have relationships in our unit," she stated. Yuuichiro gave her an annoyed expression.

"Shinoa, I'm pretty sure you're the devil…" she fluttered her eyelids, granting him an innocent look.

"Oh, Yuu, you're so cute!" she said, laughing.

"We better go, Yuu; we know she isn't going to leave us alone. We better stop wasting time." Mika's words brought him out of his irritation as he placed a hand on the black-haired boy's shoulder.

"Yea…"

Shinoa followed them as they walked down the hall; planning to keep an eye on them as they started back to the apartment where they lived. She looked the two brothers over in questioning as she trailed them quietly. They had always been right by each other ever since Guren had found them in the snow on the outskirts of Kyoto in January of twenty-sixteen. They'd escaped from the Vampires, but in turn, lost their entire family in the process, which caused them both to stay clear of relationships of all kinds.

She had to admit, though, that at first, she'd thought the two of them were the typical lone-wolfs that had one another and desired no further company; however, when she'd learned the story of how they'd escaped and what had happened to them in the midst of it all, she felt something akin to sorrow for them. Both of the boys before her always seemed so remarkably strong and stubborn to the point that she would have never thought they'd been through something as horrific as they had.

"From being raised in captivity, to losing their entire family in a single night….then being dragged into the life of a soldier…it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable being brash with them. Sometimes, I get a little worried that I might say something that could hurt them…."

Tangerine eyes traveled to Mikaela Hyakuya – or Mika – the blonde with a feathery cut to his hair and bright, sapphire-blue eyes. He was handsome and sweet; something that most people admired about him was his kindness and understanding of others; however, on the battlefield, he was a skilled combatant and worked best with his brother to whom her attention went to now.

Yuuichiro Hyakuya was the complete opposite of his brother; his skin had a tan to it, his hair was black as night and had a messy cut to it that framed his face while his bangs fell into his bright, wide, emerald-green eyes that sometimes made him look to innocent for his own good – those same eyes also tended to cause people to panic a bit when he locked his gaze with theirs – in addition, Yuuichiro was mouthy, sarcastic, short-tempered, and known for his attitude and sharp come-backs when people made comments on his height. Shinoa glanced him over, noting that he was rather small for someone who was almost sixteen. A smile graced her features just a bit because of what she had heard about the two from others in her class: handsome, strong, oddly-kind, a bit stand-offish, stubborn, and to a rather great degree; terrifying.

"So, are you two going to practice, do your homework, eat dinner, and head to bed as usual?" she asked. Without even looking she knew that Yuu was making an expression that meant he had extra training or practice of some kind that was nagging him in the back of his mind. She giggled, and the boy shot her a glare as he growled a bit.

"Are you going to follow us everywhere?" he asked incredulously.

"Hahaha~ I doubt I would waste my breath on two trouble makers if I didn't have to watch you like the Lieutenant Colonel said to." Emerald eyes locked onto her with a withering look.

"Can you just buzz off? We get it! We need to meet his stupid requirements!" he snarled at her as Mika smiled and prepared himself to have to stop his brother from acting to brashly.

"They may be stupid, but he wants to teach you proper teamwork and comradery instead of just the two of you working together," she stated simply.

"So, in other words….he wants to keep us out of the way because we don't work well with anyone besides each other….great….Yuu, I think we're going to have to work on this one." The black-haired boy frowned.

"Us? Make friends? You read our files, you know what's happened to us…not to mention none of the people here feel safe around us because we're Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose Guren's adopted kids. You think we can just up and make friends? Yea, sure…." Shinoa smiled at the black-haired boy's statement.

"He does have a point….none of their classmates talk to them and even the professors tread carefully because of their association with the Ichinose name…"

"You could try harder, you know," she stated. The boy scoffed.

"I don't need other people. I have my family." Mika nodded alongside his brother and she sighed.

"Then welcome to the rest of your life until you finish with school," she told them. Sapphire and emerald eyes narrowed as she felt some surprise come across her – who knew that even Mikaela could look so irate.

"Like hell I'm staying here!' they said in unison before looking at each other.

"Now I get why you work well together….you're too close," she said. Yuu looked to the side as he started to walk out of the building.

"That happens when you suffer through hell with someone…"

Shinoa sighed as she heard those words. She was beginning to think that Guren was having a little too much fun with the Hyakuya brothers. They were both wonderful working together; great fighters, strong-willed, and were braver than even she considered herself to be. Shinoa began to ponder whether or not pulling a few strings for the two of them would be of some use while she started to follow the two of them; however, in the midst of their departure from the school a faint crash came from behind and caught their attention. Upon the ground was a boy with someone's foot pressed against his head. The other student made a few jabs at the boy, causing Shinoa to look at the two brothers who only stared as the boy protested.

"They really aren't going to help him? Do they honestly not care for people that much? I'm surprised…" Shinoa thought as Yuu shrugged and Mika glanced to his brother.

"Come on, I thought you wanted us to be friends?" the boy stated as the other looked weakly at him.

"Please, stop!" the two brothers glanced at the boy before glancing at one another again.

"You better do as I say or I'll sick the fangs on you," the taller boy said arrogantly. Shinoa flinched when Yuuichiro gritted his teeth, his form tensing while Mika seemed to swallow around a lump in his throat.

"That might have been the wrong thing to say…."

"Should we?" asked Mika as Yuu rolled his eyes.

"Might as well….hey! Idiots!"

The three boys looked at him as he walked forward and looked at the boy on the ground staring at the two of them in questioning as they waited to see what the three were doing. Shinoa looked at the two brothers with surprise before a small smile appeared on her face. This was something she hadn't seen before and while it did make her feel a bit strange to see the two lone-wolfs acting in defense of another person – one who wasn't even a comrade on the battlefield – was rather refreshing.

"Well, you two can interact after all."

"What do you punks want?" Mika and Yuu glanced to one another before they looked at the three boys while the other kid remained on the floor.

"See, this is why I like bullies – their simple and dumb," Yuu stated. The tallest of the three scoffed.

"Dumb, I see….we gotta short-stack tough guy here and his buddy…" Mika tilted his head faintly and laughed.

"I'm his brother, you moron," he said.

"Told you they were dumb…" the three crowded the blonde and black-haired boys.

"You two wanna fight?" asked the apparent leader.

"Bring it on!" Mika and Yuu prepared to fight the three of them; both fairly confident in one another's abilities. They had been trained in different styles of combat from Guren's squad, and had beaten each of them at least once; therefore, they felt that it wouldn't be too great of a risk in dealing with three high-school bullies. They were about to deal with them when a certain someone piped in.

"Oh, I forgot to mention this: engaging a civilian in confrontation will extend your probations," she explained in a thoughtful tone.

"WHAT?!" the outburst was followed up with a resounding smack, followed by the sound of two persons making contact with the ground.

{School Courtyard: 4:30pm…}

Shinoa attempted to keep herself from laughing as the boy from earlier, Yuuichiro, and Mikaela walked across the courtyard of the school, carrying several different items as she walked back to the classroom where Yamanaka and his two lackeys were waiting on them. From what Shinoa could tell, the two boys were plotting revenge already and had been granted a fairly short-fuse that she was certain would cause them to attack the three other teenagers once they arrived at their destination. Her eyes fell to Yuu, who was currently clutching a can of soda tight enough to make it burst as he carried an annoyed expression, his eyes glaring in a dull manner to any who crossed his path. The notion of his expression looking a little sulking crossed her mind and she no longer could contain herself as laughter bubbled up from her.

"You look like a scolded child! That's adorable!" she continued to laugh as he growled.

"I hate you, Shinoa," he said as he reared his fist back with the can in it to smack her in the head.

"I'm sorry, please, forgive me." She felt relief flood her as Yuu and Mika's attentions were brought to the smaller boy before them.

"Would you stop apologizing every two seconds?!" Yuu snapped as the brunette boy winced.

"I didn't mean to get the two of you in trouble…..see….I had a favor to ask of Yamanaka, and it's not easy to get on his good side," he explained. The black-haired boy rolled his eyes while Mika frowned.

"So, what are you? His fan-boy or something?" the brunette shook his head at the blonde's question as they started walking.

"No, you see….I failed the Imperial Demon Army entrance exam, and when I heard that Yamanaka was being considered for the Moon Demon Company because of his scores, I figured maybe he had connections and could get me a second chance…" the two brothers looked at him with shock written across their faces.

"What?! They're letting that guy in? They won't even let us in!" Mika stated.

"Damn you, Guren…you jerk….I'll make you pay for this!" Yuu had dropped the drinks he was carrying while Mika turned his attention to the boy and did his best to calm his younger brother down.

"That Guren sure knows how to press the wrong buttons when it comes to us…." Mika thought as he tried to defuse his brother's anger.

The brunette stared at the two of them, not entire certain of what he made of them. They were different than he believed them to be only because of the rumors going around school. Everyone knew that the new students were the adopted children of Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose Guren, the leader of the Moon Demon Company and thus, everyone assumed the boys were either spies for the Japanese Imperial Demon Army or had done something fairly bad to cause their probation only because the two boys were clearly trained in combat – they had been banned from the gym classes due to the sparring sessions they did – and were versed in different languages, but other than that, no one knew anything about them: looking at them now though, he honestly couldn't see how these two were so threatening; they seemed fairly normal to him. The boy's musings ended as he felt the gaze of someone on him and turned to see that the black-haired boy had calmed down and was now looking at him.

"So, who are you anyways?" he asked. Olive-green eyes – nowhere near as bright or sharp as his own – looked to him. Yuuichiro admittedly felt a little guilty for snapping like he had; however, he quite honestly had every wish to make that man pay for wasting four years of his and Mikaela's time on training and preparation only to pull the proverbial rug out from under their feet.

"I'm Saotome Yoichi. I'm in your class, but I only know your last names," he answered. The blonde smiled.

"I'm Hyakuya Mikaela, it's nice to meet you…I've bumped into you a few times in class by accident so it's good to put a name with the face." brunette smiled in a meek manner.

"Um…I noticed your…friend? Brother? Calls you Mika, do you go by that generally?" Yoichi asked.

"Yea, and mister short-fuse over there is my brother…." Mika looked to him and he sighed.

"Hyakuya Yuuichiro." He held out his hand and Yoichi shook it.

"Nice to meet you….um…" Yuuichiro gave him a long look and Mika laughed just a bit, smiling.

"He's asking about your eyes, Yuu," he said calmly. The black-haired teenager huffed.

"Are they really…." Yoichi stopped momentarily.

"Yes, they're naturally this color….Mika's is too." Yoichi was joined by Shinoa who smiled.

"They get asked that a lot because they look like foreigners. You know, rich and sharp eye colors, blonde hair, and then of course mister silent over there has that nice tanned skin… and of course with those ravishing good looks, I thought they were foreigners too when I first met them," she said with a giggle.

"You're one to talk, grape-head." The girl laughed.

"People think my hair is beautiful, thank you," Shinoa said haughtily. Yuu flushed a little as she tossed her hair a bit and he caught the scent of citrus while Mika smirked at his brother who turned his gaze away.

"Whatever…why do you want to join the Imperial Demon Army anyways?" Yoichi sighed.

"I want to get revenge….eight years ago, when the Vampire Reign began….my sister was killed by one of them and I wanted to avenge her death…"

Yuuichiro huffed as he picked up a coffee can from the ground and smacked Yoichi over the head with it before looking at the can in his hand. Mika frowned, knowing that he was remembering details of their own escape and the horrors it had wrought. He recalled them as well alongside the four years of training they'd endured for their own revenge while he also found himself still wondering how he had survived being stabled through the stomach by Ferid Bathory that night. Mika had tried for years now to remember what had happened and had checked through his memory of him waking up in the hospital – he'd even asked Yuu, but the boy wouldn't discuss what had happened – therefore, he had assumed that the Army had gotten him treatment. Sapphire-blue glanced to emerald-green as the black-haired boy looked to Yoichi.

"Don't bother with getting revenge….it's not really worth it…if you're not careful you'll lose yourself. Your sister wouldn't want that….she's gone." He dropped the can into the bag that Yoichi was carrying in his arms and looked to his brother.

"Besides, weaklings like you wouldn't last a day….believe me…..and we need to kill the fangs, not feed them." With that, he started to walk away.

"Yuu…"

Before Mika could speak, there was a crash of noise, the blaring sound of a siren, and an alert set off. Smoke filtered from the school building, causing most of them to be shaken up a bit as Mika and Yuu glanced to one another in knowing as Shinoa heard the statements coming from the sirens. A Vampire had escaped from a biological research facility and was inside the school. Yoichi stared at the two brothers in questioning as he realized what they were planning on doing. Shinoa glanced to Yuuichiro who wasn't speaking or moving just yet as he focused on something which caused her to narrow her eyes as she felt whole-heartedly that he would do something careless.

"The three of you get somewhere safe. I'm going to call the Moon Demon Company!" Shinoa stated. Emerald-eyes narrowed at her.

"Screw that! I'll kill the fang myself!" with that, Yuu ran past them and Mika frowned before huffing as he followed his brother.

"Idiot…" Shinoa muttered as she remained where she was staring after the two.

"What are they thinking? They….ah!" Yoichi stepped back with Shinoa as they realized Yuu had stepped on a soda can that now was spinning out of control and spraying the area around them with a sticky substance.

"Double idiots!"

Down amidst the crowd of evacuating students, Yuu and Mika were racing towards the upper floors of the school. Mikaela followed his brother in questioning of what the boy was thinking could be done. While they were both without question capable fighters, neither of them had Cursed Gear, which would enable them to kill the Vampire; however, Mika wasn't about to leave his brother to fight the Vampire alone: someone had to back him up. They finally reached the floor that Yuuichiro had been heading for and he realized they were at their lockers. Sapphire-blue eyes stared as the black-haired boy opened his locker and pulled out two items: the standard issue Enchanted Gear Katana that members of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army were given, and an antique black, white, and gold pistol that Mika had stolen from Ferid's mansion during their escape attempt four years ago.

Mika was tossed a secondary Katana and stared as his brother put the pistol behind his shirt and kept his sword at his side as he nodded his head to him and turned towards the sound of the Vampire's location. Honestly, what was he supposed to do with him? The boy was nothing if not determined and Mika supposed that he was just as stubborn. Sighing, he followed quietly as they searched for the beast before hearing a scream from a classroom. Using the sound to guide them, they finally entered their classroom only to be stopped by a pink-haired, slightly emaciated vampire about to bite down on a girl's throat. The sound of metal leaving a sheath of wood met the ears of both the Vampire and Mika, who now realized that Yuuichiro had unsheathed his sword. He swiftly followed the action, prepared to fight, when they heard someone speak.

"It's…you two….you're…part of the Army?" they looked to see Yamanaka staring at the two of them with evident shock and fear as Mika looked between him, the vampire, and the girl on the desk while Yuu kept his gaze locked onto the vampire with her long hair hanging in her face.

"It's been a while….since we've seen a vamp, huh, Mika?" he looked to him.

"Yea, it sure has….four years."

"Oh, really?" asked the vampire.

"Yea…and we're going to kill you!"

"For our family." The two of them charged the vampire with their swords and were left with the space above the girl where she had been standing as nothing but empty air.

"Human trash!"

They heard the crash behind them and turned to dodge the vampire as she came at them with full force and threw random objects at the two as they attempted a hit to her. She smiled faintly as they dodged a desk and chair thrown their way before preparing another strike as they ran forward. Mika went to her left and Yuu to her right, where she was relieved of her right arm by his blade. She picked up the severed limb and jumped back just as the girl on the desk made a sound of pain.

"Ahh….help!" Mika turned his eyes towards the Vampire while Yuu looked to Yamanaka.

"Yamanaka! Take this girl and get out of here, hurry! You're a candidate for the Moon Demon Company, aren't you? Hop to it!" he snapped. The brown-haired teenager jolted, fear evident upon his face.

"But….I was lying!" the two stared at him.

"Huh?!"

"I-I thought that if I told everyone that….then they would fear me like they do the two of you….

"Pesky brat!" their attentions turned to the vampire.

"Know your place, livestock!" she snarled as she reattached her arm. "If you're intent on interfering, then I won't waste time playing with my food!"

She ran after the two brothers and they dodged. Mika landing near the girl while Yuu blocked her attack. She flipped over him and landed at the girl, reaching for her, only to have Mika jab her through the thigh. She hissed in pain and Mika grabbed the girl up before looking to his brother.

"I'll take her to safety! Kick her ass, Yuu!" Mika ran from the room with the girl and Yuu nodded as the vampire turned to him.

"I guess I'll have to settle for your blood, then," she stated simply.

"Like hell you will!" he slashed at her, catching her in the side.

The vampire shot at him again and he cut her across the chest before firing the gun at her as she smiled and charged after him. Her clawed-fingers knotted in his hair, and he growled in anger as he felt her breath run across his throat. Yuuichiro braced himself for pain, only to be left shocked when the sound of footsteps came and someone knocked her away from him.

"Are you okay?" his eyes grew wide.

"Yoichi?!" he asked as he looked at the boy.

"You little…" she went for him and Yuu jumped in the way, blocking her with his sword to hold her off as he glanced to Yoichi.

"Yoichi, good job….that was impressive." The Vampire made a hissing noise.

"Thank you! But that's what friends are for, right?" he stared back at him as the Vampire jumped back and latched onto his throat with her hand.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!"

She ran them back further and further until he felt something behind him shatter and the sound of glass breaking met his ears, followed by the rush of air and the sound of tree branches breaking as they hit him while gravity did its job. He heard Yoichi call out his last name in shock as he hit a bush and then the ground which knocked the air clean from his lungs as he looked at the Vampire that was now above him glaring. He was pinned, he knew it, and apparently so did the Vampire because she was laughing while he realized that he had stabbed her through the stomach but with Enchanted Gear, it did little to her as he growled in frustration.

"Nice try, did you really think this would kill me? Give me a break! I'm stronger than that…." Yuuichiro gritted his teeth, snarling at her.

"Yea, sure you are…." she grinned manically.

"I think I've earned a little snack for the road, and your blood smells delicious," she snarled. As the words left her, the sound of a sword piercing through flesh met their ears and her eyes grew wide, pained and shocked as she looked from him down to the glowing black and red blade that had pierced her chest.

"I'm sorry….you were saying?" asked a sarcastic voice that Yuuichiro knew anywhere.

"How? How do you have a Cursed Weapon?" the vampire stood in pain as a tisking noise came from the black-haired man behind her.

"My, how the mighty have fallen. You're pathetic," he stated. With a single slash, the vampire vanished into an array of amber-black ash before what was left of her clothes fluttered to the ground between the man and Yuuichiro. Violet-brown eyes looked him over, sighing as he did while looking at the boy.

"I had a feeling it was one of my brats that was fighting the Vampire…should of guessed which one it was though….why do the youngest always cause their parents trouble?" he thought as he received a frown from the boy.

"And speaking of pathetic! What were you thinking? How'd you plan to kill it with a normal blade and no Curse? Or were you hoping I'd come to save your sorry tail? God, I thought I trained you and Mikaela better!"

"Whatever! I had it! I was about to make my move." Yuuichiro stood, brushing himself off and feeling a few sharp stings from the fall. Guren shook his head.

"Right, and you didn't just take on more than you should?" he said.

"It's true!" Guren rolled his eyes.

"I'm starting to miss the quiet kid who use to bite me when I got to close….this mouthy, sarcastic version of him is starting to make me feel like a nagging old man…."

"Uhuh….then again….I have to admit that you did pretty good alone….or did Mikaela help you? Anyway, you both did pretty well for a couple of kids. Thanks to you, the overall damage was minimal. On top of that, you saved all your friends at school," he said with a smug grin.

Yuuichiro glanced to the four people behind Guren and frowned. One on the inner left was a girl with long red hair in a high ponytail, the one next to her was a brunette holding a red notebook in her arms, then there was another female with long black hair with her arms behind her back, and beside her was a tall blonde man with slightly long hair in a short ponytail with his arms folded over his chest while closer to Guren stood a man with pale-blonde hair and pale-blue eyes with a knowing smirk on his face. He knew each and every one of these six people present because they had trained himself and Mika as they grew older and entered the Imperial Demon Army.

"Jujou Mito, Hanayori Sayuri, Yukimi Shigure, Norito Goshi, Hiragi Shinya, and Ichinose Guren….that's the Moon Demon Company's vanguard unit…the same unit who found Mika and me four years ago and the same one that helped Guren raise us…." Yuuichiro sighed as he looked to Guren.

"Yea…well, I'm not interested in making friends…" he stood there, looking at Guren who smirked while a small blush ran across his face despite his efforts. Honestly, he was a little bit surprised by all this mess, and that Guren and his squad showed up; however, he felt an expression of shock cross his face when he saw Shinoa standing next to Goshi waving before she came forward and he tisked in disdain at what she would say next.

"Great….trouble just arrived…" he thought as he tried to recover his ground.

"Yet you and Mika get along swimmingly," Guren stated.

"We're brothers you bastard….there's a difference…." The man smirked.

"You're not really related," he mentioned as Yuuichiro glowered.

"You're off topic dumbass!" Guren shrugged.

"Then I think we're done here…." He started to leave and the boy growled.

"Hey! Now that you've seen what we can do! We can kill vampires with the best of them! So make us part of the Company, already!" he slid down the slope to face the black-haired man, who smiled as he stared into the boy's sharp green eyes. Yuuichiro had always struck him as odd, whether it was his behavior in the early days or how determined and sure-footed he could be once he got an idea in his head; however, even with determination and willingness burning in his eyes like a wild flame: Guren couldn't quite bring himself to put the two boys on the line like that.

"I'm growing too soft…."

"Sorry, but I make it a strict policy not to work with lone wolves," he said.

"Haha~ that's pretty funny coming from the biggest lone-wolf in the Demon Army." Yuu glanced at Shinoa's smug expression – knowing it too well himself – as the black-haired man looked to her.

"Huh? Did you say something?" he questioned.

"No, Sir." She turned away from him while Mika came sliding into place to stand beside Yuu.

"Well, looks like you're still in one piece Mikaela. Good to see that the problem children are sticking together as usual," Guren stated as he looked to the blonde.

"Piss off…" the man sighed.

"Anyways, Yuuichiro, Mikaela; the rules Shinoa gave you remain the same: if you can't make a friend at this school – I won't have you joining the Moon Demon Company any time soon," he said as the two boys glowered at him.

"Guren! What's with you trying to force us to make friends here?" Mika's tone suggested annoyance, but Guren didn't quite honestly care.

"It's not like it's going to help us kill Vamps, anyways," Yuu said as the blonde frowned, not liking the direction this was heading. Guren was about to respond when a clack of footsteps caught their attention.

"Because, Cursers…"

"Oh! Thank goodness! You two are okay! I thought you died, Yuu!" Mika watched as the boy leaped over the railing and slid down the slope towards his brother, losing his balance along the way. Mika side-stepped as Yoichi made a leap at Yuuichiro, knocking him over in the process as the resounding crack of a skull meeting pavement sounded, letting the blonde know that his brother would rake him over the coals for this later. Guren frowned as he looked at the boy.

"Who's that?" he asked as Mika looked at his brother in worry and then to Yoichi who was teary-eyed and snuggling into his brother like a lost kitten. The blonde sighed, having his suspicion of this being a year that would drag its feet confirmed.

"His friend, apparently….or lover." Shinoa's voice piped into explain as Mika gave her a long look as she laughed to tell him that she was joking.

"Uh….Yuu? Hey? What's wrong? Someone call an ambulance!" Mika sighed as he went over to get the black-haired boy up and take him to the medical ward while Yoichi apologized and cried over having clearly knocked him out. As the blonde checked on the unconscious boy Shinoa gave the Lieutenant Colonel a long look before Mika gave his adoptive father a smirk.

"Oh, by the way…" the man hummed.

"What is it?" the blonde gave him a devious grin.

"Now that we've met your requirements; you have to keep your end of the bargain….right….Lieutenant Colonel?" Mika stated smugly as he watched the look of shock and realization hit the man fully. The sight made him feel surprisingly good.

"Hmm…I think I get why Yuu does this to people so much…when they deserve it…it's kind of gratifying…"

"Huh?! What?! Are you kidding me?"

{….}

Every time I close my eyes….I always see the same scene. The smiling faces of our dearest friends – our family….I wonder if Mika sees it too sometimes….but then….

"Whew, you had us worried, Yuu! But I'm glad you made a new friend," came the voice of Akane and her warm smile arrived with it to his vision.

"How are you guys still…." He stared at her.

"Now we can stop worrying about you. Don't you get it? We don't want you to live for revenge. You and Mika are too kind for that." He stepped forward.

"But, we…" she shook her head.

"Listen, you need to take good care of Mikaela, yourself, and your new family and friends okay? Well, we gotta get going…." She started to walk away.

"Wait! Akane! What do you mean you're going?" she turned to smile at him.

"Because, you're in good hands, Yuu – Mika is, as well. You don't need us anymore." Emerald eyes shined with tears.

"Please, don't leave us here! We're always going to need you, please!" she turned to walk away with the others.

"Goodbye, Yuuichiro…" he reached for her.

"Wait! Come back! AKANE!"

{…}

Emerald eyes opened blearily as he took in the fact that he had reached out in his sleep. Slowly, Yuuichiro realized that he was lying in a hospital room with someone staring at him. He turned to meet the sapphire-blue eyes of Mikaela, who smiled and placed a hand on his head – a comforting touch he'd gotten used to over the years – and heard a happy voice nearby.

"Hyakuya! Thank goodness! Look, Shinoa; he finally managed to wake up!" Yoichi's voice spoke and he realized why he was in the hospital in the first place. The periwinkle-haired girl looked to him with her tangerine eyes and smiled as she stood and walked towards them.

"It's about time…" Mika sighed as he looked to her.

"So, what's going to happen now? Did you hear a verdict from Guren?" he asked. She smiled.

"Yup….." Yuu glanced to them.

"Can someone please explain?" Mika looked to him.

"Firstly, we're going to tell you that it's nice to know you don't have brain damage from the hit you received because of Yoichi," Mika stated.

"I'm sorry!" Yuuichiro groaned.

"Stop apologizing!" the brunette looked down as Shinoa laughed a bit.

"Well, I was waiting for you to wake up sleepy-head; but seeing as your awake now: I have good news…" all eyes turned to her as she smiled.

"What?"

"As of today, you two are officially assigned to the Vampire extermination unit," Shinoa said.

"What?" the two brothers looked at her in surprise.

"Congrats, Yuu! Mika! That's awesome!" Yuu looked at the boy.

"Uh….thanks, I guess…." Shinoa smiled.

"I almost forgot. Your enlistment was also accepted. Welcome to the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, Yoichi. The three of you made quite an impression on your comrades. You put your lives on the line and fought bravely for people you don't even know – gentlemen, welcome to the Moon Demon Company….from now on, you're one of us," she said as she held her hand out over the bed and Yoichi took it with Mika following swiftly. Yuuichiro looked to them as they smiled.

"Come on; bring it in, buddy," Yoichi said.

"Ahh….this is so stupid…." He looked at them again and sighed.

"Come on, Yuu," Mika encouraged him and he sighed again.

"Fine….." he placed his hand atop theirs and felt warmth come to his cheeks again.

"Happy?"

{…}

I can see you running, running…

{…..}

Author's Note: So, this is a rewrite of the original first chapter. I took most of the details from the original chapter and just added a few new details in. It is a lot longer than the original one – the original was 17pgs & the new one is 28pgs – so, I hope that, for what it's worth, everyone likes it whether you're new to the story or are re-reading this.