Chapter 12: Subsequent

{Shibuya: July 7th, 2020, 9:02am}

Sitting alone at a table was one lemon-blonde-haired, violet-eyed sixteen year old girl by the name of Sangu Mitsuba. She was done with her morning training and had just sat down for breakfast at the cafeteria for the Moon Demon Company. Her mind was on why she had been removed from the same team she had been on since she was thirteen years of age; however, she had also put her mind on something else regarding what a transfer would mean.

Taking in a deep breath, the girl finished her breakfast and started out of the area with her tray to put it away before returning to her apartment to enjoy her remaining days off in peace. As far as she knew, a transfer meant that a new team had been formed and she would need to be prepared to work with potentially seasoned veterans in the same field as her. Mitsuba smiled a bit at the thought: she would earn their respect and do so by learning from what they could teach her.

As she conjured the image of a perfect team of seasoned soldiers, someone bumped into her, knocking her tray out of her hands and onto the ground. She yelped as he slipped and went down alongside the other person as someone crouched beside them. She blinked a few times, momentarily dazed as she glanced at the person briefly before she was helped up and someone grabbed her tray for her. Mitsuba remained momentarily dazed as she looked into sharp emerald eyes that spooked her and then to sapphire eyes that caused her to feel unnaturally anxious before the two people left. She remained there, stunned by the brief encounter before she frowned, growling about the people not apologizing as she let it leave her mind momentarily. Unknowingly someone stepped up behind her and took in a breath

"I see you had a run in with Guren's problem children," stated a voice. Mitsuba jumped a bit and looked to tangerine eyes.

"Shinoa! Buzz off!" the girl giggled before looking to her. The periwinkle-haired menace was dressed in black leggings, a deep blue skirt, a white blouse, with a blue ribbon at the collar and the same deep purple ribbon in her hair while she wore short dark brown ankle boots while Mitsuba herself was in black demin shorts, a pair of sneakers and a dark pink t-shirt.

"Sorry Mitsu, but I just thought you'd like this." She held up a file folder.

"What is that?" the periwinkle-haired girl smiled again.

"Why it's your new team assemblage. As one of the higher ranking officers on the team, you get to review the profiles of your comrades," she explained. Mitsuba snatched it and tucked it under her arm.

"I'll check into it after I return home thank you Sergeant Hiragi." The periwinkle-haired girl smiled.

"Awh, you can call me Shinoa. Okay? Special Corporal Sangu," she said as she skipped off. A frown slipped onto her face at the statement.

"I think I hate that girl…."

Mitsuba had been a part of the same things as Shinoa since they were both toddlers. They went to the same schools, the same events, the same etiquette classes, and they were trained by the same man: Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose Guren. However; when they became part of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army at age thirteen, they were split up into two different squads. Shinoa had gone on to be a secondary on Guren's team for her older brother Shinya while Mitsuba herself had been sent to a squad lead by Lieutenant Major Kannoue Jun for a year to undergo field training before she was moved to the squad with Major Sawano Yukina. The woman had snowy-gray hair, and pale blue eyes.

Her weapon was of the Black Demon Series, and was a dual Kunai with chains. she was a bold, and serious leader. The woman had been an inspiration for her to become stronger and even acted as an older sister figure when one of her comrades had been killed because of her foolish actions. Yukina had been more of an older sister to her than her own elder sister Aoi had ever been.

The blonde-haired sixteen year old continued along her way and to her apartment where she sat the file folder down upon her coffee table before going to her room to grab a pair of comfortable clothes before changing and heading to the kitchen to fix herself some tea. Once she had settled in, Mitsuba set to grabbing the files and curling up on the sofa to read through them.

"Alright, let's see….six person team…." She flipped it open and felt displeasure course through her at the first profile she saw:

Hiragi Shinoa, age 16, female, Rank: Special Sergeant.

Mitsuba took out the file and set it aside, not wanting to see anything relating to Shinoa for a while if she could help it. The next profile beneath the periwinkle-haired pest was seventeen year old Kimizuki Shioh. There wasn't a great deal of information on him other than his basic statistics and a few minor details about his personal life. His sister was his only living relative and she was infected with the virus that wasn't supposed to afflict people under the age of thirteen. A slight throb went through her heart as she thought of the girl and how much pain she had to be enduring at such a young age.

"Poor girl….can't be easy on her brother either…." She muttered as she looked further at the profile.

The final thing that she read on the pink-haired seventeen-year-old was that he had a Black Demon Series weapon. Dual swords linked by a thick chord that had the name: Kiseki-O. She sat the file down atop Shinoa's already knowing all about her information and her Cursed Gear Scythe known as Shikama-Doji. She brushed a lock of her hair aside, the small black and green axe charm on the black metal bracelet she wore that formed into her weapon known as Tenji-Ryu. She turned to the next profile on a fifteen-year-old boy named Saotome Yoichi.

The boy was a pale-chocolate brunette with olive green eyes and fair-tan skin. He was smaller and thus far, the youngest out of her new team. Saotome Yoichi had no family, and was a quieter person that much she could tell; however, he also wielded a Black Demon Series Cursed Gear in the shape of a bow that went by the name Gekkoin. There was a singular shot of him in practice with the bow and thankfully a full figure shot of him – much like the singular one available for Kimizuki Shioh – that showed her the weapon was well suited for his physical build and allowed him to move as he wished.

"Good fit….he'll be a decent sniper too…" she mumbled as she took a sip of her tea.

The file was set aside before she looked to the next file. This one was of a blonde-haired, sapphire-blue eyed boy of around sixteen-years-old. He wasn't overly tall or muscular, that much she could tell by the pictures available of him. Mitsuba glanced his information over and took note of his name. Hyakuya Mikaela, he was a survivor of the Vampire Reign and had been found by Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose Guren in January of twenty-sixteen alongside another child. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the full scale picture of him in a training field outside with his weapon out and active. Another Black Demon Series Cursed Gear that was in the form of an English long-sword, which was named Fenrir after the Great Wolf God of Norse Mythology.

If Mitsuba were honest, he didn't seem to be fully Japanese. If she had to guess his heritage hailed from the Germanic or Italian portions of the world; however, there was not much information on him, much like with Kimizuki Shioh and Saotome Yoichi. She sighed and sat the profile down, not thinking much about the information before she looked at the final profile.

"He's younger than I am! What the hell?" she asked.

The information was on the currently fifteen-year-old boy with jet-black, messy hair, a slight build, and shocking emerald eyes. As she stared at his picture and information, she read that he had been adopted by Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose Guren at age twelve alongside his brother Mikaela, and that his Cursed Gear was a Katana known as Asuramaru. It had also been stated on his profile that he had few Gifts, one of which was Psychometry. The statement made the blonde-haired girl uneasy as she considered the group she had been assigned to. Her dream of an idealistic group of seasoned veterans was dashed when she realized these newbies had jumped the gun and gotten into the Moon Demon Company by showing combative prowess rather than skills in the academic setting. A frustrated growl left her.

"Why am I being given the newbies?! Shinoa is skilled, sure, but these other four… not to mention two of them are brothers… God…" a hum resounded in the back of her mind.

"Consider it a chance to train new meat into a refined skillset… all of them wield Black Demon Series Weapons, that must speak for their skill, am I incorrect?" the voice of Tenji-Ryu came to her and she slumped back against her sofa.

"Sure, fine! Whatever… still… getting ripped off my team and away from Major Sawano… just to do this damn mess…" she looked at the portfolio once more of the last member of her team and sighed.

The boy had a singular picture of him training with Mikaela with his weapon out and them working together through a few sparing sessions it seemed. Instantly, Mitsuba could tell that the black-haired boy was swift and agile; however, he was also powerful and reckless: a dangerous combination. Mitsuba had known for her entire life that someone with a great power, had to be careful not to abuse it. Taking in a deep breath, she flipped through the information, reading that he to was a survivor of the Vampire Reign, but it didn't state where he had been found exactly nor how both he and his brother had survived those four years outside of the safety of the human-controlled cities. Frowning, Mitsuba sat the file aside and looked at the sun through the window.

"Should I give them a chance? Or should I tell Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose that I don't want to be part of a team of fresh-blooded idiots?" she asked her Demon.

"Well, the way I see it, you can protest… or you can submit, which would you prefer?" Tenji-Ryu's statement had the blonde growling.

"Submission is not my style, so I'm going to tell that blowhard exactly how I feel about this mess!" Mitsuba stated sharply.

{Park: 11:45am}

"Shinoa! There you are!" Yuu called out to the girl as she looked towards him, a smile upon her face.

"I was beginning to think you'd decided to ditch me," she stated as he stood from her seat on the bench.

"No, I was looking for you…" emerald eyes looked her over as she smiled before reaching for his hand.

"Do you want to take a walk?" she asked.

"Can I catch my breath? I've been looking for you everywhere." Shinoa eyed him.

"My, my… mister tough guy, out of breath already?" she questioned.

"You're really annoying, you know that?" the girl pouted.

"Oh me? No way, I'm just precious!" she said in a childish voice as he rolled his eyes and through his arm around her, curling her to him.

"Mhmm… and you sure you're not just pestering me because you can?" he asked as she giggled a bit.

"Come on, you know I love you…" the boy rose an eyebrow.

"Do you now?" he questioned.

It had been like this every time they met up and had time to be alone. They were close, wanting to touch one another, but not press boundaries that were left unspoken as they stayed close to one another, hands grasped, fingers intertwined, and bodies pressed together as they stayed silent, not knowing why they felt such a strange pull to one another. It was confusing, and somewhat worrying; however, they were happy, standing there like they were, close and taking in the stillness around them as the sun shined down and the terrors of their world melted away for just a moment.

Yuuichiro had tried to fathom what this girl was doing to him for quite some time now. From the first day they'd met, to this day, she had been changing him in some way, showing him, it was okay to open up as he looked to her and she smiled in his direction or did something that annoyed him just to show that she truly did care. Shinoa had an odd way of showing affection; however, when it was just the two of them, there was this strange type of chemistry with them that made him wonder why he felt drawn to her of all people.

Anyone could have been the person he chose to feel these kinds of emotions towards; however, it had been Shinoa from day one. The moment they'd had their first conversation on the roof of the high school nine months back, there had been some kind of inexplicable connection, like someone had flipped a switch in him and he knew he wanted her there even if she bugged him. Emerald eyes closed just a fraction as he took in the girl's sweet scent of blood oranges while feeling her warmth seep into his body while he considered why it had been that first encounter that had caused him to wonder why he thought about her so much, why he felt concerned if she acted out of character, and why he was so aware of her. Knowing that though, only insured him that this girl, was without question, the right person for him.

"She's the only one whose done this to me… is it because she's… my soulmate or something?" he thought.

"Most likely… I mean, you do have quite the thing for her…" Asuramaru's impute only caused him to internally growl.

"Shut up before I stuff you into a jar, got it shrimp?" the Demon whined.

"Awh! And I was enjoying this little soap opera you humans call life… don't cut me out of my fun Yuuichiro, I just wanna be in the loop…" he rolled his eyes.

"Fine, just keep your opinions to yourself unless you're asked otherwise please…" the mental image of a lazy salute came his way.

"Aye, aye captain…"

"Hey, Yuu? I wanna know something," Shinoa stated.

"Hmm?" he glanced to her and she smiled.

"When this war ends… and the world starts to get back on its feet again… what do you want to do? Who do you want to be?" she questioned as she pulled him to sit down on the bench with her.

"That's a weird question." He settled beside her and she shrugged.

"Not really, but I was just… curious…" she said. Emerald eyes glanced to her before looking forward.

"I've never really given it much thought. Mika and I really don't have a middle ground in our lives. It's either our pasts or this present… we haven't thought about the futures beyond this life." Shinoa hummed.

"Oh, I see… so, you don't think the world will ever get back to how it used to be?" Yuuichiro sighed.

"God, I hope not… from what I remember, this world was so fucked up… it needed a do-over. If it goes back to being where humanity can live peacefully, at least, to some degree… then, sure… I think I can have some hope for this world's future… but if it returns to a sort of world where evil is paid and good is thrown aside, where lies are more comfortable than the truth… then… we should stay as we are… things are complicated in this world, but not like they used to be…" Shinoa watched him for a moment.

"You're… serious about that, aren't you?" she questioned.

"In a way… I don't think this world is fine the way it is, but do I ever see the Japanese Imperial Demon Army dying out? No, I don't. But should humanity be given a chance to do something good with this world? Definitely, we should be given the opportunity to show everything out there that we can work as one, that we can set aside our differences and make a positive change in this world… if we don't do that much… then the possibilities we've been given just now… it's pointless…"

Shinoa could admit that this boy beside her always stumped her in the strangest ways. He was different than most would perceive him to be; not sharp tongued, cruel, harsh, indifferent, ill-tempered, and unwise: but intelligent, understanding, brave, true to himself, compassionate in many ways, and loyal to a fault. That was the things she'd seen in him since day one, since she'd walked up onto the roof of the High school and saw him and Mika doing homework together and they'd had their first conversation.

Both of the boys had been covered in bandages, scrapes and bruises, Yuuichiro had been wearing an eye-patch, his expression straight-laced and dismissive while this strange energy had tugged on her until she had been able to speak with him more and more, and learn about who he really was. That was the boy she had fallen in love with, the charming, strange, clever, and mouthy young man that caused her to feel so much unlike herself, and at the same time, every bit the person she was and wanted to be. A smile graced her features, in his eyes, the world was different, and hearing that statement from him, assured her of who Yuuichiro Hyakuya really was.

"Then we should all work together to make a difference, don't you think?" she asked.

"Well… there's no harm in trying. But, what about you? Shinoa? What do you want to do if this war ever ends?" the girl stared at him in surprise.

"I think… I want to become a therapist… someone who can help people adapt to the world once this is all over. If I do that, I can show them and let them know that this old and horrid life is gone and there are new joys and people can live happily now," she answered.

"That's… a good idea. I think you'll do well with that… despite your attitude." The girl gawked.

"Attitude? What attitude?" she questioned.

"That one, the sarcastic behavior you have." Shinoa frowned as she grabbed his hand and pulled, startling him and causing him to stumble, the two of them going down onto the soft grass around them, Shinoa falling against him as they did so.

The girl stared into his eyes, and smiled, fingers reaching up to brush his bangs from his eyes before laughing a bit at the flush that started to form on his cheeks. It was clear that he was embarrassed by the sudden closeness coupled with their position; however, she found it oddly cute and smiled as she slid a finger across his lips, causing the flush to his face to darken as she stared him in the eye.

"I am not sarcastic… I am an honest person who is mistaken for a smartass," she stated as she watched him.

"R-Really? You could have fooled me, Shinoa…" the girl shrugged as she leaned a little closer to where their foreheads were pressed together.

"If I fooled you, the Great and Powerful Yuuichiro Hyakuya, then who do you think I am?" she inquired, placing a finger to his bottom lip as he swallowed thickly, his breathing a bit shaky as she watched him. Shinoa knew that he had a personal space issue that reared its head from time to time.

"A conniving trickster with a sneaky personality and sadistic tendencies. However, there's also this… really beautiful side to you… the side that has a gentle heart despite what she shows to everyone else, the side that cares for those she loves and is strong and powerful like nature… I think I know who you really are Shinoa Hiragi, and I'm not going to be fooled by your façade." The girl stared at him, stumped at his deductions. He was most certainly smarter and more observant than people believed him to be.

"Then… you are right… however… I won't be giving you my first kiss just yet you seducer!" she said laughing as he flushed blood-red as she leaned up a bit.

"Shinoa…" the girl smiled, caressing his cheek.

"I want to make a contract with you, Yuu," she told him softly.

"A contract? What do you mean?" he gave her an odd look and she glanced down a bit.

"As I'm sure you know, information was given to us recently that Shinjuku may come under attack… this is going to be a lot for our first mission as a team… and I don't doubt anyone's skills… but the person I worry about the most is you… so… I want to make a contract with you," she explained.

"What would make you think that I –"she shook her head.

"Just hear me out… this mission is going to be dangerous, and I want all of us to make it out. I believe we can, but you must make a promise with me, a contract, or I won't be able to concentrate," Shinoa admitted as he sat up a bit and pulled her close to him.

"Shinoa… okay… let me hear your conditions…" tangerine eyes looked up at him.

"Come back to me alive and whole… don't leave yourself on the battlefield, no matter what happens out there, promise me?" the boy stared at her momentarily.

"That's hardly fair…" she frowned.

"Since when is this world fair? Please, Yuu… make this contract with me, promise me you'll come back to me… just as you are now… the person I care about the most," she stated.

"What I mean is… if I have to make a promise to come back alive and whole… then you have to as well, Shinoa," he explained as he stared her in the eyes. Shinoa felt her eyes burn as she watched him, but refused to cry in front of him.

"Okay…" a smile came to his features.

"Then I promise you, Shinoa… I'll come back alive and whole…" he stated, eyes never once wavering.

"And, I also promise you, Yuu… that I'll come back alive and whole as well." She grasped his hand laying down against him as she wove their fingers together while he took in a steady breath, closing his eyes as he did.

"This is going to be some mission, huh?" she nodded.

"I wish there was something I could give you, so we have something to remind ourselves of our promises," she muttered a bit as he shrugged.

"Words alone are enough." She smiled.

"I guess your right… are you ready for it?" a small smile came to his features as he thought of the last few weeks. They had all pushed themselves further, training and striving for control, of powers they were given, to protect those they loved, to learn more, and stand strong as equals on the battlefield. That was why he chose to fight then and there, to push forward with all he had until he no longer could.

"Yea, I am…"

"Good, so am I…" emerald eyes opened to look at the sky above.

"All of us have a reason… for fighting and striving for this life, for this existence… and we won't waste the chances we're given… we're going to fight, and work together, to keep our comrades and loved ones safe… no matter what the cost may be..."

{…..}

When you're backed against the wall...

{…}

Author's Note: I wanted to do a little half-introduction to Mitsuba and gloss over what she was doing during the time frame before we would have seen her in the anime/manga, and I also wanted to show what Yuu and Shinoa are doing on some of their down time. This promise, as you guys remember, was from the original story, and it has been redone and cleaned up here in this moment with them in the park. I think it's kind of sweet. Well, let me know what you guys think,

Sincerely,

ShadowDragon94.

Chapter 13: Beginning