Chapter 10: Elucidation

{Shibuya: July 5th, 2020, 7:01am}

Only two days after their training had ended, did the group of six soon-to-be Moon Demon Company members find themselves with a lack of things to occupy their time. It was part of the process that all members of the Moon Demon Company had to go through: the ever dreaded waiting period. They had several things they were waiting on that currently, only proved to be an annoying thorn in their sides. For Kimizuki Shiho, he spent the waiting period tending to his sister, training with Kiseki-O, working through his internal debates on the Hyakuya brothers, and preparing for his first assignment.

Currently, he was on his way back from his visit to the new hospital that Mirai was set up in and was mulling over the details he had been given. According to the doctors, she was stable, and now that she was receiving better treatment, she could recover and potentially be rid of the virus. He smiled and stared out the window of the train he was on, the sun coming through as he looked at the ruins of the city. His internal musings went through the fact that once the wait period was over, he would be on the frontlines of the war, fighting the vampires and whatever else the world could throw at them; however, if one were to look at him, they would have assumed he had no connection to the Moon Demon Company, or the Japanese Imperial Demon Army.

The attire he wore today were his civilian clothes, consisting of jeans, black tennis-shoes, a pale blue t-shirt, and a greenish-blue jacket. The only way anyone would know that he was a member of the Moon Demon Company would be the rings of black and green upon his fingers that bore a symbol of crossed swords, and that was only if one were aware of the fact that Black Demon Weapons – and most Cursed Gear – could turn into smaller items to be worn on someone's person in order to hide themselves in plain sight. The train passed another border and he re-entered the main city, planning what he would need to do next.

"We have a week left, I need to get some supplies…"

With Yoichi, he spent the time cleaning up and straightening out his apartment so it would be clean when he returned from the mission. His place was quiet and rarely did he have visitors, but there were things to attend to, much like with the others. Today, he was tending to the laundry and was seated by his washer, reading a book. He was dressed in jeans, black sneakers, a gray v-neck shirt and a thin dark blue sweater while his bow – Gekkoin – was formed into a black and green cuff that rested upon his left wrist. With a sigh, he leaned back against the counter and waited for the washer to finish while he thought about what had happened so far.

From being the weak kid that most picked on, to having met and befriended the two people most in the school were afraid of, he found himself surprised that he'd somehow managed to come this far. Admittedly, he hadn't started out that day with the belief that he would become friends with not one, but both of the Hyakuya brothers: people that the others at the school normally steered clear of due to their bizarre circumstances, and relations to one Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose Guren. He sighed as he closed his eyes, soaking up the sunlight that flooded in as he listened to the silence around him. Starting roughly nine months ago, the class he had been in were given two new students and they had come in bandaged, covered in scrapes, bruises, and gauze. At the time, Yuuichiro had been wearing an eyepatch from some kind of injury; however, despite that, everyone could agree that both of those students, were nothing short of unnerving in the oddest manner.

"Everyone, these are two new students of ours, I'd like for you to welcome Hyakuya Mikaela, and Hyakuya Yuuichiro. They'll be here for a while, so I want everyone to make them feel welcome…."

Yoichi recalled how different they were to now. The boys were in a word: strange. Most of the girls had found their rather foreign looks attractive, with Mika's blonde-hair, sapphire-blue-eyes, fair skin, and slightly tall stature, he was instantly liked by a good portion of the females at the school. Then, there was his brother, Yuuichiro. The boy was slight of build, tan-skinned, and had stunningly piercing emerald eyes. Both the boys, Yoichi noticed, were unaware of their popularity with the girls in the school and seemed more intent to work on their schooling, and get out as fast as possible.

Then, three weeks into the first half of the semester, someone had seen the two of them training with Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose Guren, and had learned through a bit of observation and eavesdropping, that they were his children. From there, the admirers and interested parties grew fearful of the two – including the teachers – and began to spread rumors around about how they were present as a means to observe normal society because the two of them had grown up in the Moon Demon Company barracks; and while it wasn't entirely untrue, there was a great deal of false information in the things that were stated.

However, now that he had learned the differences in what had been said about the two brothers and how they really were. Mikaela, who had been stated as being overly protective, harsh-toned, and cold to others was remarkably kind, open, and loyal to his friends and family. The blonde was possibly one of the nicest people anyone could meet. Yuuichiro, was a bit of a different story when it came to his personality. Many had said that he was brash, sarcastic, temperamental, impertinent, mouthy, jaded, and acted a bit feral in nature from time to time and that they were correct in most of those factors: the statement that the black-haired, emerald-eyed youth was brutal, and had even attacked people before wasn't true.

In fact, Yoichi would say that after you got past the harsher aspects of the boy's personality, you could find that he was remarkably pleasant, sincere, honest, and compassionate, gentle, and highly understanding. Nothing like they had assumed he was. The sound of a buzzer went off, waking Yoichi from his stupor, and looked towards the washer before he stood, stretched, and pulled out the wet clothes and placed them into the dryer. A cloud rolled past the window, causing him to look up as he did so.

"Is it gonna rain?"

Across the city, Shinoa was walking calmly through the shelves of a bookstore, idly glancing towards the books as she did so. Her attire consisting of black leggings, dark brown ankle boots, a white button-up shirt, a red ribbon sash-tie that was tucked into a beige skirt that hit above her knee and was held on by a black belt. Her sweater was deep red, and a bit big on her while her normal purple bow and been replaced with a deep red one. She sighed, looking towards the rows upon rows of bookshelves as she continued to stare onwards at the spines of them, looking for something to catch her interest.

At current, she found nothing, her mind wandering as she looked to the different sections and huffed, blowing her bangs from her eyes while the small, pen like object that was her scythe Shikama-Doji, was rested comfortably in her skirt pocket. Shinoa had never liked the waiting period; however she did understand it, unlike Yuuichiro, who had been rather surprised by the statement. She smiled, recalling how he had expressed his dislike of not being told this sooner.

"So wait….there's a whole freaking week of waiting before we can even get out onto the field?"

"Actually, there's about a week and a half…"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

Shinoa laughed a bit as she looked towards the shelves and sighed before looking at the time as she started for the door with an idea in mind. She reached into her pocket, grabbing one of the rare cellphones that were used only in the city from her pocket, she flipped it open and looked through the contacts before locating the number she needed.

"Hello, Sayuri? Could you do me a favor?"

The girl smiled as she listened to the woman on the other line and replied with what was needed before she received an answer. Shinoa thanked her and told her a time and place before hanging up. She put the phone away in her pocket before she began to skip down the street, feeling the sun upon her as she continued her skipping as she smiled and went on her merry way.

{Moon Demon Company Apartments: 10:45am}

Mika hummed a bit as he stood in the kitchen of the apartment that he shared with his brother, washing the dishes in the sink while listening to the faint music coming from upstairs. Sapphire-blue eyes looked over towards a cracked door near the end of the kitchen between the living room and hallway. It was a faint sound, audible just enough to be heard from the room that came over their apartment. It was Guren's idea to give the two of them the extra space above, and while most of the people present within the building weren't aware of it, both the boy's used the sound proof room for training during their early months at the apartments. It had also been used for another form of training that his brother was currently involved in.

Yuuichiro seemed like a rather brash, stubborn, harsh, and fiery person; he did have a soft spot or two. First of all, the boy in question was a surprisingly avid reader, a rather intellectual person, and did pay attention in class even when he was annoyed by it all. Mika sighed as he glanced towards the door across from his viewpoint and dried his hands before he headed around the counter and to the door before ascending the staircase as he listened to the music change from something soft to a faster, sharper, and much more energetic sound that had various changes and tones to it. Mika looked towards the opening at the top of the stairs and went further up until he reached the top where he was greeted with a sight he had seen since he and Yuu were around twelve or so. He went to lean against the wall in silence, watching the boy working away at the daily practice that Guren and Sayuri insisted upon him doing in order to keep the boy calm when his stress or anxiety levels went up.

The sound of music went higher for a moment as Mika watched before the boy moved just a bit, tilting his head as he moved his fingers to draw out the sound while focusing intently upon the notes. The blonde-haired boy took a tentative step forward, causing the floorboards to creak and alerting the other to his presence. By this point, Mika was close enough to have to dodge a swing from the object in his brother's right hand that was swung much like his weapon that was seated upon his bed downstairs right then. Mika looked into the boy's slightly startled emerald-eyes and then was glared at by the other.

"Come on Yuu, it's me…take it easy," he said as the boy held the bow tip at his throat.

"Why are you pestering me like this? Guren and Sayuri are going to kill you…" the boy kept the larger object at his shoulder while Mika eyed it.

"Giving Tsuki the work out today?" he inquired as Yuu sighed and relaxed his posture a bit.

"Of course I am. I need to do something to occupy my time…" Mika smiled.

"I heard you playing. Sayuri would be happy your violin skills have come so far in just a couple of years," he said as the boy lowered the bow and flipped it tip-down before scratching the side of his head in frustration.

"I guess…that final note caught me for the first time in a while…" Mika eyed his brother and then looked at the sharp black violin rested upon his shoulder with its green trim atop it and the crescent moon on the right hand corner in the same color. It was a present from Sayuri, Guren, and himself when the boy turned fourteen. Until then, he had used Sayuri's old violin and had to contend with a few old strings snapping and scratching him and Sayuri both.

Mika smiled as he looked at his brother while the boy rested the bow on the table in the room and started to pluck the strings, listening to the sound of the violin as he did so. Mika sometimes had to laugh only because most wouldn't have pegged Hyakuya Yuuichiro of all people to be a violinist; however, the boy had been playing for four years now and was quite good. Sayuri had been trained in violin as a child and had a good twelve years of experience but since the war had started, she had little if no time to play. Therefore, getting a student had been an absolute dream for her.

Yuuichiro had taken to the instrument as if it was second nature and it had helped him cope with the anxiety and trauma of their years and then near failed escape from the Vampire City. The boy in his wild – honestly it was more feral – state was dangerous, but music had always seemed to sooth him and Guren had taken note of that. Thus, Sayuri had dug out her old violin books and taught the black-haired boy via the same method she had learned: Suzuki. Mika had watched, picking up a few tricks and hints on how to pinpoint whether or not someone played an instrument or not.

He heard the boy sigh as he picked up the bow – a steel recreation that he had been victim to a few times when he surprised the boy and was swiftly swatted over the head by it – and posed his fingers before he started playing again. This piece was the one he had walked in on him playing and it was a rather hard one, it had several double-stops, chords, and tended to rise and fall in sharp strokes of the bow. Mika watched the boy as he kept his eyes closed, focusing on the song and the different notes. This song had caused his brother a serious amount of trouble for a decent three and a half-months but finally, it had gotten to where he was capable of playing the song. Mika listened to the boy hum along with the song before finally, the song ended and then he looked towards Mika who clapped.

"You got it!" he said. Yuuichiro looked him over.

"I kind of figured out how to keep the rhythm by humming it." Mika smiled.

"That was Gigue right?" he asked.

"From Sonata in D-Minor, yea…it's one of the ones that gives me the most trouble when I don't pay attention." Mika shook his head as he looked at the boy as he played with the strings, listening to the sound that came off them.

"Well, you've made a lot of progress since you started four years ago. Have you been practicing anything new?" he inquired as he watched the boy.

"Yea...but right now it's not ready for anyone to hear…" Mika rose an eyebrow before recalling something. The image of his brother at age fourteen sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room with the old wooden bow of Sayuri's three-quarter-size violin balanced upon his forehead teetering back and forth entered the blonde's mind before he shook his head.

"You're composing again? What song is it this time?" asked the blonde as Yuu sighed, taking the end of the bow end to lightly scratch at his head.

"I was recalling one of the song's that Akane used to sing…not the lullaby, but the other one…and seeing if I could put music to it…that, and I kind of am working on a new original one…" Mika hummed slightly.

"What's it called?" he questioned while Yuuichiro slightly graced his fingers across the G-string and then the A-string.

"Orion….but I don't have much done on the notes and lyrics yet…" the other smiled.

"That's good that you're doing something creative again. I haven't seen you write anything new since you were fourteen and you got sick from staying up four days straight and not eating," he stated. The black-haired teenager glanced to the side, huffing a bit as he did so.

"Yea…I guess…." Mika frowned at the tone he used.

"Hey, I was wondering something…." He started.

"What is it Mika?" the blonde stepped forward and looked to the violin – Tsuki was the name given to it which according to Sayuri was a tradition amongst instrumentalists – before glancing into his brother's sharp emerald eyes.

"How come you don't let anyone know you play? I know that Guren, Sayuri, Goshi, Mito, and Shigure know….but Shinya, Kimizuki, Yoichi, and Shinoa haven't got a clue." The boy glanced his way.

"Why would I tell them? It's none of their damn business what I do in my off time," he stated.

"You're kind of missing the point here. Yoichi is our friend right? Shouldn't he at least know that you play violin? That you have been playing since you were about twelve?" the black-haired boy looked to the side.

"No, and for that matter, why would I tell Kimizuki? He'd probably just laugh about it! Not to mention Shinoa could make all sorts of ridiculous jokes!" he said bluntly. Mika looked the boy over and took in a deep breath before shaking his head.

"He's still terrified of being rejected by others because he's different. That's what makes us different from each other….I'm fine with other people….but Yuuichiro….it takes him a long time to trust other people…"

"Mika?" the blonde glanced towards him.

"Hmm?" the boy shook his head.

"Nothing, I guess I just…. don't feel comfortable letting other people know about this…" the boy glanced towards the violin.

"Yuu…listen, you've got a gift with music. A lot of people think that you're just some rough hellion of a person, but you're not. There's a side to you that's really gentle and sweet….that's a good thing; there isn't enough of that in this world now-a-days." The boy looked to him.

"Not enough of what?" he asked. Mika touched his chest with the tip of his finger over the other boy's heart.

"Kindness, consideration, warmth, understanding, hope….there's a lot of things that people like you can bring back to the world." The boy glanced to the side with a small smile.

"It makes it easier if I have a few allies….I can't change it alone," he said with a faint smile.

"Exactly, so, what about…" the sound of the phone ringing caught their attention.

Mika raced down the staircase and entered the kitchen where he picked up the phone and answered. There was a brief discussion that Yuuichiro could hear the base of before the phone was hung up and Mika came racing back up the stairs and towards him with a message. The black-haired boy listened as he was told that he and Mika were supposed to meet their unit at a café a block from their apartment for a late lunch. The blonde told him to get dressed and hurry up while he raced down the staircase again and Yuu sighed in defeat before walking over to the table where a black case was settled. He set to putting the violin away, loosening the bow hairs before he put it away and closed the case up before he grabbed the case and then promptly headed down the staircase to put it away under his bed. It took rough ten minutes or so; however, the two of them were dressed and out the door fairly quick. Mika stating that it would be slightly exciting to see the others outside of a class or training setting while Yuuichiro could only fathom that it would be either remarkably annoying or entertaining for their remaining day.

{…..}

I'll use the light that comes to me…

{…..}

Author's Note: On the subject of Yuuichiro playing violin. My roommate has played violin for sixteen years and noticed that some of his mannerisms and his movements fit a violinist. I watched Battle in Nagoya and the episode where Narumi and the others were preparing to attack Lucal Wesker came up and we both noticed that the stretches Yuuichiro was doing were violinist stretches. Thus, he gained a violin.

Yes, those are legitimate movements and parts of the violin from the G-string to the A-string and the bow movements; also, it is a common tradition for violinists or other instrumentalists to name their instrument and Tsuki was the name given to his instrument because it has a crescent moon on it.

The song he played was Gigue from Sonata in D-Minor which, if you'd like to hear it just pull it up and listen: it's a rather hard and complex song on the intermediate level. As for the soft song that he was playing at the beginning, that was a song that was taught to myself and my sister: Second Star to the Right.