Chapter 18: Reflection

{Checkpoint Campsite: July 17th, 2020, 9:02am}

"Hey! Yuu!" emerald eyes turned towards Mika who came up towards him as he tugged on his jacket, preparing for when his group would be heading out.

"What's up?" he asked as the blonde sighed.

"We're about to head out. You ready?" Yuu nodded, checking his sword right quick before sheathing it as he and Mika started walking where the others were waiting for them.

"I'm more than ready… admittedly… I just want to get this over with," he said as he stretched a bit.

"How are you feeling?" the emerald eyed teenager sighed.

"I'm surviving. How about you?" Mika shrugged.

"Same I guess… Guren didn't tell them by the way," he informed him as Yuu relaxed a bit.

"So… they don't know about how different we are? Well, outside of us having three gifts, and me being a Naturopath?" Mika smiled.

"It could be worse… I mean… they know we're a bit different… but not how different… look at us though… we're some kind of freaks aren't we?" he mentioned as his brother shook his head.

"Na, we're just a little unique is all… so, I guess we should use them." The blonde glanced to the side.

"What about what Guren's told us before? About our bodies?" the black-haired teenager sighed.

"Do you really buy all that scientific jargon crap?" the blue-eyed teen shook his head.

"If it didn't make sense, I wouldn't be asking… seriously though, Yuu, it…" emerald eyes glanced to his sword.

"Let me guess… Fenrir said something to you the day you made your contract, didn't he?" Mika stilled as Yuuichiro did as well, keeping his eyes on him.

"How did you know?" he asked as his brother held up his own weapon.

"Asuramaru told me that I was only half human… ten percent accord to her. But… she looked as if she wasn't telling me everything. I think that both the demons know we're not really human beings, Mika… and while I don't see myself like that… I can't help but think they may be right." The blonde bit his lip.

"Do you think that's why they couldn't possess us? Because we're…" a crunch of footsteps came to their attention, and the two brothers turned to see Shinoa coming towards them.

"I was wondering where the two of you were. Everyone else is waiting, and Guren's group has already left to head into Shinjuku. They need us there as soon as possible," Shinoa told them.

"Okay, we're coming." The periwinkle-haired girl frowned.

"Is something wrong? The two of you look worried," she mentioned as Mika shook his head and Yuu started towards her.

"Just a bit tired is all. Plus, Mika was trying to make me feel a bit better… I don't want you guys to feel uncomfortable around me because I'm a Naturopath or anything…" Shinoa smiled.

"We're not, the way we view it, that gift is an incredible asset to our team, just like you are," she told him as Yuu smiled, putting an arm around her momentarily as he pulled her into a sideways embrace that she returned while Mika smiled, doing his best to keep himself in check as he knew the two of them most certain were either together or had something going on.

"Thanks, Shinoa." She smiled to him.

"No problem, by the way, can I talk to you alone for a second? Yuu?" he rose an eyebrow and Mika smirked.

"And that's my cue to walk away," he said as he rushed off as the black-haired teenager glared at his brother.

"Traitor!" the blonde laughed.

"Have fun Yuu!" with that, the two of them were left alone, and Shinoa turned her attention to the boy.

Yuuichiro took in a deep breath, turning to pull the girl into his arms as she tightened her grip on his waist, burying her face in his chest as she took in a deep breath, taking in his scent of what seemed to be akin to sweet fire and honey mixed with an earthy smell from the outside that had seeped into his clothes. The boy rested his head against hers, taking just a moment to themselves before the headed towards Shinjuku, at which point they would be thrown into what both were certain would be a warzone.

"You scared me… when you lost consciousness… when you healed Mitsuba… all of it," Shinoa told him.

"I'm sorry." She sighed.

"I didn't know what you were doing, and the way you looked when it was over… you were so pale… and your eyes got so dark… I thought something really bad had happened," she informed the boy as Yuu held onto her.

"I should have told you… but at the time I was more concerned that I wouldn't be able to help Mitsuba or if I would end up killing her." The girl shook her head.

"When I caught what was going on, I knew you were trying to help… she's my cousin… and even though we fight, we're actually pretty good friends… so thank you for saving her," Shinoa said as he smiled, tightening his hold on her.

"I'm just glad she's okay…" the girl looked to him, smiling a bit.

"You're still a cherry boy," she stated, and Yuu rolled his eyes.

"And everything is normal again…" she laughed a little, and snuggled up to him again.

"Well, you're my cherry boy… and, I'm happy… its silly… when I met you, and Mika all I thought was that the two of you were going to frustrate the hell out of me, and I couldn't wait to wash my hands of the two of you soon enough." The black-haired boy frowned.

"Charming…" he muttered as Shinoa smiled.

"But, then I took note of things about you. The things I told you when I admitted my feelings for you… then… yesterday, I realized something else." An eyebrow raised in confusion.

"What?" he was met with worried tangerine eyes.

"I'm scared to lose you… when you coughed up blood yesterday, because you overused your Psychometric ability… I felt responsible for telling you to do something I knew your body couldn't fully handle… I'm so proud and grateful that you fight with us, and saved Mitsuba's life… but I don't want to lose you… if I did, I – "the black-haired boy leaned down a bit and cupped her face with his gloved hands.

"Shinoa, listen to me. You are not going to lose me; I'm going to protect you, and keep you, and everyone I love safe. I promised you that I'd stay alive, and come back whole, didn't I?" he asked.

"I know you did, but this is war and – "he shook his head, sharp emerald eyes boring into her tangerine ones.

"I don't like about my promises. I swore I would keep you safe, and that I would stay alive and come back whole, and you promised me the same thing. When we get back to Shibuya, and celebrate our victories over this mess… I'm going to be there, right by your side, because I am yours, and you are mine." Shinoa smirked.

"Oh, aren't you assertive. Well, I'll keep your word in mind, and in my heart, I'll keep you close," she said as he smiled.

"And I'll keep you close in my heart." She kissed his cheek, and then he sighed as she grabbed his hand and the two of them went on to meet up with their teammates, preparing for whatever laid ahead of them in Shinjuku.

{Road to Shinjuku: 2:40pm}

The group had walked along the road for hours, keeping themselves close together, and being constantly on watch for Vampires and Four Horsemen of John. However, they all could admit that walking as long as they had, was starting to wear on them a bit, making it to where the group would soon need to take a break. Yuuichiro stretched, pulling one of his arms behind his head as he tilted his head a bit before yawning a bit as Kimizuki started looking around, spotting a café which they soon settled themselves at, and took in a few deep breaths, choosing to rest for twenty minutes; however, they could admit that walking constantly like this, wouldn't be helping them out in the long run.

"God, how long have we been walking?" asked Kimizuki.

"About five hours." Yoichi sighed.

"Maybe we should take a few more breaks, conserve our energy," he said as Shinoa sighed.

"We need to be in Shinjuku as soon as possible though, we're can't waste time." Mika glanced to Mitsuba at her comment.

"I agree with you on that, but over exerting ourselves won't help us fight our allies. If we're exhausted, we won't be able to help them," he mentioned.

"Guess you have a point there." Yuu turned his attention to Shinoa.

"What about stopping for twenty minutes or so every four hours? I know that it'll take longer, but we're all tired still, and if we keep walking like this, we're going to be no good to anyone when we arrive in Shinjuku, like Mika said. Besides, we have tomorrow to get there the rest of the way, and if we have more energy, we'll be better off," he said.

"You've got a good point there… but, what are we facing otherwise? Its dangerous out here at night." Mika looked around them.

"If we're in a high area, and stay far enough into the building, we should be safe. Besides, we can stay in the same room and just rest for a few hours before heading out at daybreak," he mentioned as Shinoa nodded.

"That should work. Okay then, we'll keep walking, and take a short break every few hours. At sunset we need to be inside somewhere that we can hide safely, and sleep. We'll have to be up just at sunrise and head out immediately. Tomorrow, we have to be in Shinjuku."

"Yea, don't worry, we'll get there in time."

Most of them found relief in the periodic breaks for their tired bodies. Yuu had begun to regain some of his strength due to the periodic rests which Mika benefited from as well – Shinoa smiled knowing that the idea had been helpful – her eyes glanced to Yuu who walked beside her. His skin had gotten its color back and his sharp emerald eyes were lively again. It gave her relief to see him doing better than he was yesterday. The group around dusk began to search for shelter and found an old apartment building, and hunkered down for the night.

As the group cleaned up parts of the floor and laid out a blanket to sleep on – using their cloaks as blankets – the group found silence overtaking them as Kimizuki set up a special heat lantern at the center of their circle. Shinoa was next to Yuu and Mika was beside Mitsuba. They ate some of their field rations and soon were dozing off. Yuu glanced around him before sighing as he laid down and slowly fell asleep. Mika smiled a bit as he tugged the cloak over his shoulder a bit and settled himself down for the evening as well.

While everyone started to drift off Kimizuki glanced at Mika who sighed as he looked at him and turned onto his back. Yoichi was on his side and Mitsuba was lying on the ground on her stomach like Shinoa was while Yuu was on his back sound asleep. The group reveled in the silence as they watched the room around them with so much on their minds that it seemed impossible to rationalize things. The room they were in remained silent, half of them sound asleep, the others, starting to unwind from the busy day and took in the faint sound of the Four Horsemen of John, rambling around below them.

"You know, its kinda weird…" Yoichi began, causing the others to look at him in questioning.

"What is?" the olive-eyed teenager smiled.

"Being here, when just eight years ago we were all kids," he mentioned as Mika nodded a bit.

"I get what you mean. Eight years ago, Yuu and I were taken in by the vampires, and figured that it was our life. Four years after that, a lot of things happened, I made a deal with a Noble to help us get better food, medicine, and warmth during the winter, and Yuu got fed up with being a blood bag, and decided he wanted to make the fangs pay. Now, here we are, four more years down the road, and a lot of things have changed… but those memories they're never going to leave." The blonde placed the tips of his fingers to the choker he wore, remembering what it once symbolized. Some part of him hated wearing this thing, it felt like a shackle to the past, but some part of him was glad to still have it to remind himself of why he and his brother had gone through everything, and why they had become members of the Moon Demon Company.

"You still have your collar?" asked Kimizuki as Mika glanced to him.

"We both do. Guren redesigned them to carry our information on them. He said it's a way to keep things safe, seeing as so much is on paper now-a-days. In a sense, they're serving their purpose still by letting him keep tabs on us." the pink-haired teenager glanced towards Yuuichiro as he laid sleeping, Shinoa also sound asleep.

"Why does Guren want to keep tabs on the two of you? I get that you're his kids and all, but still…" Mitsuba stated as Mika glanced down.

"He has his reasons." Kimizuki sighed.

"It doesn't have something to do with your brother being a Naturopath, does it?" he inquired as Mika shook his head.

"No, Yuu and I always think it's just his way of letting us know he cares. In a weirdly overbearing, control freak way." Yoichi laughed a bit.

"Huh, you don't say? By the way, Sangu? Have you had any problems?" he questioned as the blonde-haired girl shook her head.

"None, and I even went to the medic just to be sure. They couldn't even tell I had been wounded aside from the evident blood and gaping hole in my uniform. According to what they told me, Hyakuya's healing ability was strong enough to completely mend me from having any damage. In addition, Mika and his brother's wounds were healed or healing as well. I think he got you too because you had that spranged ankle, right Mika?" the blonde nodded.

"Yea, but I'm fine now. Yuu's always been like that though, when it came to taking care of each other, all of us worked together, even the little ones… I was always the shield, and Yuu was the guardian to the others, like Akane was. When we were younger, trying to keep the little ones safe from the ones who could hurt them… we did a lot… and put ourselves in harms way several times." Mitsuba looked him over.

"Can I ask you something?" she questioned.

"Yea, I guess so. What is it?" sapphire eyes met lavender ones and the lemon-blonde girl took in a deep breath.

"I was wondering if you could tell us about Sanguneim," she stated as Mika sighed.

"That's right… none of you have actually seen a Vampire City before…" the other three nodded.

"Hyakuya, if you don't want to, its fine, I mean – "Mika shook his head.

"No, you guys have heard us talk about our experiences, but not how that place looked really." Mitsuba sighed.

"Okay, so… what was it like?" she asked.

"Well, it's very industrialized, at least when we were there. It's like something from the Victorian era in Europe. The structures are gothic, and towering, the lower levels look more like the slums from that time period as well. There's rivers and streams, but they're not very clear, and the Nobles mansions are massive, and extremely ornate, full of beautiful sculpture work, details, and art… its cool in the cities, and winters were awful…" Yoichi looked him over.

"What about your family?" he inquired as Mika thought for a moment.

"The eight of us lived in a four-room little hovel, we slept in a large loft area above everything else in our tiny home, so we could keep warm. Everything had to be done by candlelight and firewood. Besides myself and Yuu, there was Akane, then Chihiro, Ako, Fumie, and Taichi. The night we tried to escape, I had stolen a map and pistol from the Noble we'd made that deal with, and we decided to leave… but, even though we made it to the atrium… the Noble was waiting for us." Kimizuki glanced down.

"And… who was that Noble?" Mika looked to them.

"His name was Ferid Bathory. He caught Ako, the youngest of our group, and drained her dry… then, he proceeded to kill off each and everyone of the others… he slashed Akane across the shoulder and throat… I charged Ferid, and he tore through my abdomen, and severed my left arm, and Yuu took the gun and shot him in the head. I doubt he's dead though," he said.

"You're stronger than I am." Kimizuki nodded at Yoichi's statement.

"Don't tell your brother, but I doubt even I could have handled all that mess," he stated.

"We barely did. I think Yuu still blames himself for Akane's death, because he told her he could save her, and ended up having to leave her behind. I blame myself for all of it though, if I had just waited a bit longer, one or two more days, maybe all of them would be here. As for Akane, she was always selfless, so in her eyes, what she did was right. She'd rather die and let us live, than all three of us die… that day, we lost everything we had, Yuu ended up activating his Psychometric Gift, and copied off of Ferid Bathory when he got close enough to grab him and get his attention off of me… we were lucky to have survived…" Mitsuba smiled to him.

"Personally, I think that the two of you survived, so that you could be with us." sapphire-blue eyes looked at the girl.

"Maybe you're right. We better get some sleep though, its late." With that he laid down, closing his eyes and falling asleep quickly

"Goodnight," Yoichi said as he laid down and Kimizuki replied while Mitsuba laid herself down, using her cloak to cover up as she looked at Mika sound asleep.

"In just a day, I've realized how lucky I am to have these people as my teammates… it seems almost like a dream… but I'm okay with it staying that way."

{Shinjuku: 11:00pm}

Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose Guren, stood atop a building within the walls of Shinjuku, an unsettling air covering the area, and a terrible weight upon his shoulders. He sensed it, just as much as everyone else did, that something was going to happen here. There was no answer to why he felt the overwhelming sense of something both equally incredible and terrible would take place here, within this city's walls. He sighed as he settled into sitting down for the time being, his mind beginning to secure a strategy and all its fail safes should they be needed.

The main task of his unit would be to locate the leader of this invasion, and take him down, even if it was a rather dull tactic, but it worked well enough to have been used for millennia. Take out the leader, and the entire operation becomes disoriented. Guren only hoped this worked on vampires. He sighed, and glanced to Sayuri who had a less than comfortable expression on her face as she stood nearby him, letting him know that there was a great deal on her mind.

"Something the matter, Sayuri?" the young woman shook her head.

"Not really, I just… can't shake the feeling something's going to happen," she admitted.

"Shinya's been feeling the same, hell, all of the team is. It's just that no one wants to admit it. That blonde flying monkey has been feeling uneasy ever since Yuu used his Naturopathic ability in the tram area. He warned me that Kureto may become interested in the boys again… and even try to use them… besides that, what worries me is that you know what I've kept quiet about them, even though I know they've got an idea as to what that is." Sayuri looked down.

"What about this then? What if there's to much stress and something triggers it? It's probably matured since that mishap three years ago. Do we even know how to handle it?" she asked him as Guren took in a deep breath.

"We have to be as prepared as we can be. If its triggered, and one of them turns, we'll have to do damage control. Losing them could mean the difference between survival and destruction…" Sayuri frowned.

"Guren, we're talking about damage control in a war zone. How can we – "the man looked to her.

"They're too valuable to lose. Those two are shadow and light, the ones that are supposed to help humanity… this unit knows what they are. Please, don't forget that if it comes to that point, Sayuri," he stated as she sighed.

"I won't… I just don't want the others to see nothing more than a monster." Guren looked to her.

"Don't worry, the two units are more like a family than just teammates. Our job is damage control, and keeping things calm. Besides, I have a key stone in place just to be safe," he informed her as Sayuri took in a deep breath.

"Alright then, I trust you to know what you're doing," she said as she walked away, and Guren lit a cigarette.

"I better… messing with the blood of the Seraphs could go wrong quick. Either way, I might be screwed. Eventually this war isn't going to be humans' verses vampires… there are higher things playing with us now… and this is just a tiny corner of a battle that is much greater."

{….}

Send out the signal, and I'll fly low…

{…..}

Author's Note: This chapter was really just me wanting to flesh some things out, and give it a bit of a breather before everything goes down. Tell me what you guys think!

Sincerely,

ShadowDragon94.