Chapter 17: Honorable

{Checkpoint Campsite: July 17th, 2020, 5:30am}

Mitsuba was walking about the campsite, stretching her legs as she prepared for the long day ahead of them. Guren had moved his team out that morning; ordering them to remain put until all of their team was prepared to head out to Shinjuku, and to work together. It was a horribly strange feeling, waiting for a battle to begin and what was more, Mitsuba had other things on her mind as well. It was a rather frustrating feeling to hear Guren yelling at all of them to get their act together and work as a team, even if they disagreed, but when it had come time for him to chew her out, it had made her want to cry.

Not because she was a weak person, or his shouting upset her, but because she knew he had every right to do so. It was her attitude, and her non-pulse behavior that had gotten them into trouble, and atop all of that, she felt horrible because of how she had treated Yuuichiro during these last forty-eight hours. They hadn't known each other long, that was true, and she was a critical person, she knew that very well. However, both Mikaela and his brother had done nothing more than be who they were and put the training they had been given to use, and had done things she had been to hesitant and stubborn to do.

"I'm such a bitch… how could I treat them like that? I didn't have any right to behave the way I did towards Yuuichiro, I hit him, I said I hated him… and… he still went out of his way to save my life even though I didn't deserve it… what should I do? Should I apologize? Should I just keep my mouth shut? What should I do?" Mitsuba continued to think as she walked, keeping her head down as she did so.

As she continued walking, her mind continued to remain clouded, pained by the behavior she had exhibited, thinking she was better than them, when in reality, those surrounding her were better in so many ways. She shook her head, not wanting to let her mind wander into those kinds of places, knowing it wouldn't help her current state of mind. The blonde-haired girl huffed, blowing her bangs from her eyes as she walked a bit further, kicking a random pebble to the side as she did so before she heard a couple footsteps and found herself bumping into the person who had walked towards her.

"Ahh! Oh! I'm so sor – "she paused in her apology as she stared up into sapphire eyes.

"Sangu? What are you doing up so early?" Mika asked.

"Oh, I um… couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a walk… w-what about… you?" the blonde shrugged.

"I was checking up on Yuu, he's still sleeping, but he's got some color back to him now, so I'm not as worried," he stated.

"I see… that's good, you know? That he's doing better…" Mika eyed the girl for a moment.

"Do you want to take a walk together?" he offered, startling her a bit.

"W-What? Why would you want to…" the teenager rose an eyebrow at her sudden unsureness.

"Well, there's this place just over there that we could sit down and talk, it's still in the campsite, so don't worry… I just thought that, maybe you'd like to talk for a bit," Mika stated.

"Um… s-sure… we can do that, if you want too…" he nodded.

"Follow me then, okay?" he asked as he started to turn and walk back towards where he came from.

Mitsuba followed Mika until they were settled at an area that seemed to have once been an overlook area. It was equipped with rusted binoculars, and a bench that amazingly was still standing while the area had cobble stone instead of asphalt, and had large, waist-high railings. The two blondes took a seat on the bench, overlooking the ruined city as the cool night slowly gave way to early dawn, the sky turning a strange blue-gray color as the stars began to disappear with the sun's rising. Lavender eyes glanced towards the pale-blonde sitting next to her as she wondered what he would want to talk to her about while they were alone.

Thus far, the only thing she had gotten to learn about Mika's personality, was that he was strangely over protective of his brother, that they both had rare abilities, were Black Demon Series weapon wielders, had quite a bit of fire to them and spirit; however, from what she had been able to gather, Mika was the calmer of the two. Nonetheless, Mitsuba did find herself wondering how much she could learn if the boy was willing to answer her questions.

"Um… so what did you… want to talk about?" she asked.

"Nothing really, I just… figured there were some answers you were owed." The boy glanced her way, tugging the collar of his shirt and uniform out of the way to reveal the collar of the choker the livestock wore.

"A livestock collar?" she questioned.

"Yea… I'm sorry about not explaining back in the tunnels." The girl looked at him in confusion.

"I remember… you said there wasn't time to explain," Mitsuba stated.

"Right… so, I figured I owed you an explanation… about our pasts…" the girl looked to him in questioning.

"Your… pasts? So, what happened to the two of you?" she inquired, trying to word her question carefully.

"Let me start at the beginning. We were taken away from Kanto to a city underground by the Vampires… myself, Yuu, our sisters, and brothers… eight of us in total… lived in Sanguneim for four years, as captives… livestock…" the boy looked down as Mitsuba felt her eyes widen.

"You were… livestock?" she questioned.

"Yep, we grew up in captivity. Four years-worth of living as their food source put a bitter taste in Yuu's mouth, and mine, so we decided to escape, and I used a bartering system I had set up with a Vampire Noble to get food, medicine, and everything else we needed to get a gun and a map of the city… that was the choice that changed everything for us…" the girl looked at him in confusion.

"I noticed that you and Yuuichiro are the only two with us, so… does that mean…" she trailed off as Mika looked down.

"The Noble, was waiting for us at the exit of the city… he taunted us, and we were picked off one by one, the youngest of our group, Chihiro died first… Aiko, and all the others went after her. Akane, who's between me and Yuu in age… she died last… I tried to stop the Noble… but… it didn't end well… I had my left arm severed, and the Vampire tore a hole through my abdomen… Akane was barely alive and she begged Yuu to take me and run… so he did… and needless to say… it was hell on earth getting out of it, and there was so much pain…but I don't remember much besides what Guren and the others told me…" Mitsuba felt tears well in her eyes.

"My God… just like that? All of them except the two of you were… gone?" he nodded.

"Just like that… Guren plucked the two of us out of the snow just outside of Sanguneim, I was dying… and Yuu was… wild because of the trauma we'd just experienced, and because he had never encountered adults since we arrived in the Vampire city that weren't well… Vamps," he stated.

"That's… I'm so sorry Hyakuya…. I just…" he shook his head to her statement.

"We were raised and rehabilitated by Guren, he took us in and cared for us… taught us how to fight and become warriors… because of that, we became members of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army at age fourteen, and were put on probation because of what you heard the other day… and well, here we are… part of the Moon Demon Company, and… barely seeming to get the passing grade from him as of current," Mika explained.

"He's mad at me for acting the way I did when I… didn't even know what happened to the two of you… I'm sorry… it's because I was dumb and careless, that I ended up getting hurt, and why your brother got hurt too… if I had just tried to work with everyone together… and not judged you just because you acted differently from me… then maybe this wouldn't have happened…" the boy sighed.

"That would be a different story entirely though… one where it was opposite of how things are now," he stated, a small smile coming to his features.

"I don't think I'd like that version of events then…" lavender met sapphire and the two looked away.

"Listen, Sangu, I don't want you to think that we're just two wild cards that Guren through into the bunch… we have our reasons for being here, just like the rest of you… we've lost precious things too…"

Mitsuba felt guilt tear into her as she thought over what she had been told as she considered the two boys she'd met only two days ago. They were different than others she'd met; however, there was a good reason for it. Mikaela was different, not as overbearing, nor broken or sharp-toned, he wasn't overactive or impulsive like his brother, or were they even similar in those regards. Yuuichiro could be brash, and violent, but he had his reasons, and from what she had been told, they both had plenty of reason for being the way they were towards others.

"So… Yuuichiro was feral? You mean he was dangerous or…" the boy looked down.

"Yuu was… completely wild, like a cornered animal. He was dangerous, and attacked anyone that he felt was a threat… because of that, Guren has bite marks all over his arms and hands from him… we were… and still are so broken… but we're fighting, for a purpose… and a reason to live," Mika stated as he looked at the girl who felt tears well in her eyes.

"I shouldn't have judged the two of you like that… I've never done that to anyone… and yet here I am… talking down to you and your brother as if you were foolish, and simplistic… like you didn't know anything about the world, or how to fight… in reality, you're just bad at following orders, and teamwork…" the boy laughed a bit.

"Yea, I can admit to that… but, the main point here is, that we're trying," he said, a small smile gracing his features as the girl watched him.

"He's actually… really handsome… hmm… and he has pretty eyes…" Mitsuba continued to stare and the boy rose an eyebrow at her.

"Um… Sangu?" the girl shook her head.

"No, don't call me that," she said, her thoughts going back to the situation.

"Oh, and what should I call you then? Special Corporal Sangu?" the girl took in a deep breath.

"Mitsuba… or Mitsu is fine, Hyakuya," she told him, a small smile coming to her features.

"Then, if that's fine… don't call me by my last name, just call me Mika, and don't call my brother by his full first name, he hates that… so, just call him Yuu, that's what friends do…" Mitsuba smiled.

"Okay, Mika…"

{Campsite Medical Tent: 8:41am}

Shinoa remained where she had sat for the last two hours, settled beside the boy as he rested, recovering from over using his powers. It had stunned her admittedly, to learn that Yuuichiro of all people – brash, mouthy, sarcastic, impulsive, Yuuichiro – was a Naturopath; however, she supposed that looks could be deceiving. When they had first met, the boy was somewhat of an enigma to her. He was quiet, dismissive with others, and while he was somewhat polite and did show that he was quite intelligent, he had a problem with authority figures. Shinoa had been quick to assess that both he and Mikaela needed to be on leave from the Japanese Imperial Demon Army until they could show that they were capable of being around others their age – or at least, within civilian population – without causing complications or starting a fight.

"Compulsive, mouthy, dismissive, and stubborn… that's how I described them the first time I met these boys… now, seven months later… I just… want them safe and I want to see them do well in this messed up world… they've both become so important to me…" Shinoa thought as she reached into a bowl of cool water and ringed out the cloth before placing it atop the black-haired boy's forehead. Just as she finished with that task the entrance of the tent was pulled aside and she looked to see Kimizuki, Yoichi, Mika, and Mitsuba walking into the tent.

"Well, nice of you to join us," Shinoa said.

"Cut the bullshit Shinoa, we've had some things to prepare for our departure and you're the one who said you'd watch over him until we were done!" the periwinkle-haired girl smiled at Kimizuki's statement.

"Very well, I suppose your arrival means that everything's ready for us to go?" she inquired.

"Yep, we're all packed up with a few field rations, our uniforms have been mended, the gear checked, and we have our destination in check." The girl nodded.

"Good job everyone, once we're able to, we'll head out and go to Shinjuku… Guren's already departed to the field with his group so our job will be to rendezvous with his squadron in Shinjuku's central western district." The group nodded.

"So… has he had any changes?" asked Kimizuki as he leaned against one of the posts for the tent.

"Well, his fever has gone down, and he's moved a little bit, but I'm afraid other than that…" Mika sighed.

"He'll be fine… Yuu's always bounced back quick from this kind of stuff," he explained as Yoichi smiled, having sat down next to the blonde.

"I'm sure… seeing as he's a Naturopath, he probably has always been that way…" Mika glanced to the side.

"Those first six months of us being with Guren we were in bad shape… both of us were so sick… and we weren't able to do anything… it was when Guren got bit quite a lot," he mentioned as Mitsuba looked to the boy.

"Bitten? Wait, are you saying that you and Yuu…" Mitsuba trailed off as Mika shook his head.

"No, I didn't – Yuu did. Because of how he was… he would bite anyone who would get to close. The first time he ever bit Guren was when we were in the hospital only two hours after having just gotten into Shibuya. He still has the scars from it," he stated.

"So, the two of you were really sick?" the blonde slumped to the ground a bit, resting nearby the entrance of the tent.

"Yea, I was recovering from the surgeries I had to go through, two of them at once to reattach my arm and seal up the wound in my abdomen. It's because of Yuu that I think I can use my arm… but… I still have scars from where they reattached them. I had my arm in a single for months and had to go to rehabilitation therapy for that first year… as for Yuu… he had to be completely rehabilitated to even be around people…" Kimizuki sighed as he glanced towards the black-haired boy.

"Completely Feral huh? So, why were you not like that?" he questioned as Mika looked down, resting his head atop one of his knees that had been pulled to his chest as his bangs shadowed his eyes.

"We experienced some different things that last year in Sanguneim. That was why I did what I had to in order to get us out of there… selling my blood to that noble for whatever we needed… even though he did something despicable to us… more so to Yuu… but I just… taking that chance of it happening to me no matter how many times he begged me to not go… "the boy trailed off and the others watched the blonde with slight realization on their faces.

"The Noble attacked him?" Shinoa asked, choosing her words carefully.

"Yea… he did… Yuu was pretty shaken up after that, but instead of him breaking down like some of the other children had in the past… it lit a fire in him… after that, he always retaliated against the Vampires even when we were at their mercy…" Mitsuba looked down.

"So… that's why you kept going back to the same Noble who attacked him… because you had a plan and you were going to put it into motion," she stated.

"Even though Yuu would be in tears he would beg me so fiercely not to go… I still went… to a great degree… I regret it, and I regret putting him through that every time… the way he would look at me when I came back or the way he would act if he knew I'd been roughed up by the Noble…" Kimizuki glanced down.

"So, it wasn't just a simple system you'd set up with the Noble like you told us before. The two of you went through hell because of it… but if you knew it would hurt, if you knew the Noble was going to do things like that to you… why did you put up with it?" he questioned.

"We had little ones with us… between the ages of six and twelve… myself, Yuu, and Akane were the oldest so it was our jobs to take care of them… that was why I put up with any pain or torment I went through, why I endured it… because I wanted to leave that hell we lived in… I wanted to get all of us out of that life and into the sun and the warmth again… I wanted us to escape that world…" Mika felt his eyes burn a bit at the memories of the children.

"Hey! Mika! Come and help me keep these kids busy!"

"Big brother Mika! Come play with us!"

"Yea, come on! Akane and Yuu are gonna play! Please?!"

"Big brother Mika!"

"They all died… didn't they?" asked Yoichi.

"Right in front of us… slaughtered by the same Noble who attacked Yuu… who I traded my blood for… he lured us into a trap and killed them all in front of us… taking them apart like it was some game… I know you've heard the story before, we've had similar conversations before today about this topic… but…" Shinoa smiled.

"If you want to talk about it to help you overcome that kind of pain, then both of you can talk to us about it until we can recite it by memory if you want…" she told him.

"She's right, we've all gone through pain, and if you want to talk to help you feel better… then do it." Mika looked to the others as they smiled, nodding to him as Mitsuba came and settled down next to him, reaching out and taking his hand in her own as she looked into sapphire eyes.

"It's going to be alright, we're supposed to work together, right?" she asked as he smiled.

"Yea… thanks guys… I don't know if Yuu will ever believe that you guys were staying in here just chatting with me when we seem to be at odds with one another…" Shinoa glanced towards the black-haired boy.

"Please, that midget probably wouldn't know what to believe if it walked up and introduced itself to him…" Yoichi gave Kimizuki a long look.

"Well, he may not find it so strange after all…" Shinoa said.

The group looked up as the boy flinched a bit, eyes seeming to twitch a bit before opening slowly. Without question, they were a bit surprised as he took in a steady breath and started to look around, seeming a bit confused as Shinoa and Mika came to settle beside him, both smiling as the others started to gather around him, emerald eyes seeming a bit darker than normal as his vision cleared a fraction before focusing to where he could make out the others. Instantly, the boy shot up, looking around frantically as Shinoa and Mika put their hands upon him, trying to get him to calm down as his bright eyes looked to Mitsuba who stared at him on faint concern as he seemed to relax greatly when he saw her standing there.

"Take it easy Yuu, don't go jumping out of bed like that when you've just woken up, it'll make you sick," Mika told him as he kept his arm behind his brother's back, trying to brace him in case he didn't have enough strength to remain sitting up.

"S-Sorry… Mika… I just..." the black-haired fifteen-year-old looked down.

"You were worried about Mitsuba, weren't you?" asked Yoichi.

"Y-Yea… um… Sangu? Are you… okay?" emerald eyes looked to her in hesitation, and the lemon-blonde girl felt her tense shoulders relax as she smiled to him.

"I'm fine, thanks to you that is," she stated, not daring to approach him just yet.

"No, it's… fine, I'm just glad that it worked…" Mika smiled to his brother who seemed a bit tense as he remained in the arms of him and Shinoa.

"Do us all a favor and not give us a heart attack next time you pull a stunt like that," Kimizuki chided as he looked at the emerald-eyed boy.

"Yea well, I didn't have time to explain in vivid detail or draw you a fucking diagram!" Yoichi laughed a bit while Mika shook his head, and Shinoa smiled to the boy as Kimizuki huffed and Mitsuba gave the other a reassured expression.

"What you did back there in the tram way was impressive, but you don't have to hide it from us, the Lieutenant Colonel informed us of what happened and what you can do," Shinoa explained to him. The boy's reaction was nothing short of worrisome as he felt his eyes widen and his heartrate speed up, panic lacing through him as he looked all of them in the eye.

"G-Guren told you? But I… none of you were supposed to…" he tensed, looking ill suddenly.

"Yuu, listen to me… what you did isn't something that scared us… we're just surprised is all," Shinoa assured him as he turned his gaze down.

"I know I scared all of you… don't try to play up that it didn't startle you…" the group had looks of guilt on their faces at that.

"Well, for us to learn that a smartass midget like you is a Naturopath with that kind of power did pull the rug out from under our feet for a moment, but I think it's easy to say that we're over it,' Kimizuki admitted.

"Uhuh, sure… and learning that I'm the one who Guren may be considering too do healing work on your sister doesn't put you on edge? Not even just a tiny bit?" the boy gave him an imploring look and Kimizuki frowned.

"Nope, not at all. After all, I got to see your handiwork up close and personal, so I know that you can do it… but I just need more proof that you're trust worthy enough to allow you closer to her," he said.

"I was sitting next to you when you visited her in the hospital dumbass… you've already let me close to her without a second guess…" the pink-haired bespectacled teen huffed.

"What I want to know is why you didn't show up on the registry," stated Shinoa.

"Because, Guren doesn't want people knowing to much about me and Mika's pasts. Our records are fixed so no one can get to much info on us… if they learned we were escapees from Sanguneim, not to mention that we were the only survivors of nine people and that we have all of these odd Gifts and abilities… don't you think that it would begin to seem suspicious?" the others thought on the boy's statement.

"Good point there… so, now that you're up how do you feel?" asked Mitsuba.

"A little tired, but I'm fine. Why?" Shinoa looked to Yuuichiro who locked eyes with her.

"We're going to Shinjuku to meet up with the Lieutenant Colonel's Squadron, from there, we're going to be on the front lines to stop the Vampires if and when they get into the city," she clarified.

"Okay, that sounds good to me. When do we move out?" Mika smiled to his brother.

"After you've eaten something and get ready, the rest of us will be waiting for you in the mess tent once you're done with getting your uniform back on, you can't go out there barefoot and without your sword or jacket silly, someone may mistake you for a Va –" Mika cut himself off, a concerned look crossing his face as he did so.

"Mika? You okay?" Yuu asked as he looked to his brother.

"Yea, I'm fine… I'm just a little tired from the last assignment still. We'll leave so you can get dressed and we'll meet you in the mess tent before we leave, okay?" with that the blonde stood and exited the tent while the others looked after him as he went.

"What's eating him?" asked Kimizuki.

"He's just been worried about Yuu here, after all, Mika is the big brother, he's supposed to look after his little brother." Emerald eyes narrowed at Shinoa.

"We're six months apart dammit! Not six years! I'm not much younger than him, so stop with the little jabs, okay?" he retaliated.

"Fine, get dressed and we'll see you soon!" with that Shinoa hugged him, causing him to gape at her momentarily as she kissed his cheek, ignoring the others before she left and Yoichi gave him a knowing look alongside Kimizuki while the brunette laughed and followed Shinoa out before emerald eyes looked to the lemon-blonde girl standing near the exit of the tent.

"Sangu? What's wrong?" Yuuichiro questioned as Mitsuba took in a deep breath.

"I… wanted to t-thank you for saving… m-my life, Hyakuya… I-I mean… Yuuichiro, no that's not right either… dammit…" the girl fumbled, and he smiled just a bit.

"You don't have to thank me Sangu, I just did what I knew was right. Naturopaths have an instinct to save people's lives if they can, and sometimes that overrides our judgment because we know it's dangerous, but the desire to help and heal others can get the best of us at times… so no thanks is needed," he told her.

"N-No! It is! A-And I also… wanna… a-apologize… for how I… treated you and Mikaela… I-I mean… Mika…" emerald eyes gave her a long look as the boy rose an eyebrow.

"Did something happen to make you change your mind about me and Mika?" he questioned her about this and Mitsuba looked down.

"Y-Yea… this morning um… Mika took a walk with me and we sat down and… had a long talk… about what happened to you guys in the past… so, I wanna say that I… misjudged you both. I get why you act the way you do, it's not because your foolish or don't care… it's because you… do care… so I um…" the black-haired boy smiled just a fraction.

"So, Mika told you about what happened to us? I guess that would change your opinion of someone, huh? If you knew about all the horrible shit they'd gone through… makes things seem a bit clearer huh?" the girl nodded fiercely.

"It does… I just… I'm so sorry for how I behaved and how I treated you especially. I hit you, and I said I hated you… but I never bothered to ask about your story before I judged you… so, I'm sorry, Hya – "the boy cut her off.

"Yuu, don't keep calling me by my last name or my full first name, it seems Mika already gave you permission to call him by his nickname, so…" he trailed off and the girl smiled, a small flush coming to her cheeks.

"Thank you, and I hope you'll forgive me," she said.

"Of course, I will, the only grudges I hold are against the Vampires for what they've done, you're just a critical person is all… not to mention you're my teammate, my friend… family… so, I'm going to forgive you, Sangu… and your welcome, but that's what we do for one another: we protect and care for our own…" the girl smiled once more.

"Thank you, Yuu… and just call me Mitsu, alright?" she asked him as he gave her a brilliant smile.

"Gotcha, Mitsu…"

{Mess Tent: 9:15am}

"Coffee? Yuu?" asked Mika as the boy sighed and read through the dossier that had been left for him by Shigure on the plan for Shinjuku.

"Just tea thanks…" Shinoa giggled a bit.

"Tea, but not coffee… most people would prefer the caffeine after the amount of energy you put out," she stated.

"To much caffeine is bad for your heart…" Mitsuba looked him over.

"So is too much physical exertion! You need to be careful out there with those Gifts of yours from now on, okay Yuu?" she scolded as the boy rolled his eyes, taking a sip of the tea, he had before he flipped the page of the dossier.

"Right, I'll start doing that when you don't try and take over the command of our squadron from Shinoa…" Mitsuba flushed.

"You can be a real pain in the ass, you know that?" she asked as he gave her a raised eyebrow.

"Just now figured that out, did you?" Kimizuki looked him over.

"I can tell you're really popular with the ladies, Yuu," he stated as the boy shrugged.

"Eh… not really… they go for Mika more than me…" the blonde gave his brother an abashed look.

"Why are you dragging me into this?!" he questioned.

"Because, you're my brother… it's my job to drag you into my messes…" the boy flipped another page.

"Have you ever seen him so lax?" muttered Yoichi as Kimizuki shook his head.

"Nope… what's gotten into you? Your so chill all of the sudden." Yuuichiro shrugged, scanning the information on the page once more before he flipped to the next one.

"I'm conserving my energy for the field," he mentioned.

"And scaring our teammates," Mika interjected as the boy looked to the others who gave him confused expressions.

"Hey! I can't help it if Guren drilled that into my head over these last four years!" the blonde sighed.

"What do you expect? He got us up at daybreak every morning and drilled us for three hours straight, then we had lessons, and a break, then more training and lessons… hell, I'm surprised you still failed the Japanese spellcraft after all those practices," Mika stated.

"And failures… remember the transformation spellcraft incident? Mika?" the blonde nearly slumped in his seat at that.

"Don't remind me…" the group looked between them.

"Out of the loop here," said Mitsuba.

"We had this… problem with one of the transformation spells when we were fourteen… it… was interesting to say the least…" the black-haired boy flipped a page in the dossier and took a sip of his tea.

"Mika gave himself cat ears," the boy stated.

"YUU! COME ON!"

{…}

Never run, run away, I will save you…

{….}

Author's Note: Okay, so yea… there are some very dark hints in this chapter, which is why I should warn you that yes, the events are darker than the original story, and we are going to learn more about the boys' pasts as time goes on, but just hang on with me, okay guys? We got a lot more coming.

Sincerely,

ShadowDragon94.

Chapter 18: Reflections