Chapter 4: Identities

{Inner Streets of Tokyo: November 20th, 2020, 10:04pm}

A sense of distress began to fill the area around a figure in white who observed the chaos from within the streets. This man, or beast – depending upon who one was asking – was the Noble, Hans Weisberg; one of the Progenitors of the Vampire Realm. He was a stout man, his accent displaying his Germanic lineage as much as his blonde hair and fair complexion did. Weisberg was tall, his physical build muscular, yet not overly so, and his expression icy and nearly vindictive. He gritted his teeth as his assistant watched nearby him in a detached manner.

"Blast it all! These wretched Ghouls have spent the last four years causing me nothing but unwanted tribulation that between them and now the Moon Demon Company sending in those acerbic nuisances that bear the Black Demon Series…." The man near him hummed.

"It would seem that something other than the Ghouls is aiding those filthy vermin…." The Noble glanced back towards the other.

"I have noticed… the boy that Lord Crowely Euseford spoke of from Shinjuku. He's here as is his brethren and his mate… this will bode ill for us." The other nodded.

"So, I believe; however, the traitor Hyakuya Akane is also present within the city, bearing a Cursed Gear that seems to use a water based attack," he explained. Weisberg scoffed.

"Water? What a ridiculously pathetic thing to arm a child with. What could water possibly do to ones such as us?" the other smiled in a bemused manner.

"Seems as though they aim to reclaim Tokyo," he mentioned while the Noble huffed.

"And? Should this truthfully worry me? Whether or not Amane Yuuichiro or Shindo Mikaela are present is of no concern of mine. Nor is the traitorous ignoble sow of a child Hyakuya Akane…." The other frowned.

"But, my Lord... shouldn't you be at the very least moderately concerned by what the Japanese Imperial Demon Army intends to do?" he inquired.

"Ahh, but you see… I have every intention of making these street-rats pay for what they've done. After all, these ignorant children must be taught a lesson."

"What would you have me do?" the man questioned.

"I believe you'll need to send out a decent number of our members to… entertain our guests." The man bowed.

"Very well, my Lord," he said.

{Streets: 10:14pm}

Yuuichiro felt his body collapse as he was pushed out of the way to avoid an attack, his body sliding across the ground as he did so. The pavement was wet, cold, and rough, leaving scrapes across his body as he landed, feeling the burn of the wounds. Taking in a deep breath, he felt his Naturopathic ability activate, sealing up the wounds upon him. As he got himself up upon his knees and started to stand, Nishiki looked to him as the gash to his cheek sealed up without a scar. The twenty-one-year-old's eyes widened behind his glasses as he realized that the boy had healed at an unnatural rate that even Ghouls couldn't recover at.

Mika raced towards him, picking him up and getting him to his feet before he grasped Asuramaru and charged forward with the boy, his attacks lashing outwards towards the monsters as they struggled past the vampire's defensive line and towards Tokyo Park. Akane threw a tidal wave of enchanted water towards the vampires who attacked them before striking directly with her blade, destroying the vampire and creating a burst of ash. The Ghouls slashed through them, tearing into the hoard.

"Where the hell did they come from?" asked Kimizuki as he slashed through a few of them.

"It's the Noble… Irimi has probably gotten the message to Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose… their trying to stop us from entering Tokyo Park and meeting up with them…" Yuu and Mika glanced to one another.

"Alright, I've had enough of these fuckers…"

"Any time you're ready… Yuuichiro…"

The group heard a near growl-like roar as a red flare of energy appeared behind Yuuichiro as he braced himself to use Asuramaru's secondary possession. The red fan of swords appeared behind the boy as he crouched a bit, biting into his lip a bit as he prepared to attack. The group moved just enough to not be in his way as the vampires realized what they were about to go up against.

"Yuui…" Cho went towards him as the vampires launched after them before the boy jumped forward.

"Watch this," Yoichi stated as Mika joined him in an attack while the Ghouls watched in a stunned silence.

"Asura Canon!"

A whistle like sound went off as a series of red swords flared past the green-eyed boy who used it as an opportunity to annihilate several of the vampires before he turned upon his heels and took the heads of quite a few of the vampires. Mika jumped over his brother's attack and lashed out another one right as the others jumped back into the fray. The vampires took another turn before they retreated, only a singular one making his escape as the Ghouls shot down the vampires alongside the attacks from the demonic weapons that the group of Cursers used.

"This is… starting to get… annoying…" huffed Yoichi as he looked towards the end of the streets and towards the larger source of light.

"Agreed, but… we're almost there…." Yuu took in a deep breath before looking towards the edge of the light.

"Come on, Guren's probably already there; knowing him," stated Mika as he stood straight, and the group started towards the park area.

"Yea, we better go…come on…."

The group, now beaten and battered began to stumble their way forward, prepared for the remainder of the battle. Yuuichiro took in a shaky breath as he stared at the others, looking them over in faint concern. All of them were injured, and despite the fact that the Ghouls had the ability to heal quicker than normal humans, that didn't mean they were invincible. Taking that into account, Yuu had every intention of using his Naturopathy as soon as they were safely behind Sayuri's wards – lord knew that the woman's wards were nearly impenetrable – and that meant that they could have a bit of time to heal and create a strategy that could combat the surprising onslaught of vampires that had arisen the closer they'd gotten to the center of the city.

"Can I manage fourteen people in a row…not to mention Guren's group is probably banged up too…so…that makes twenty people in total counting myself…I hope I can…" a sudden sharp pain shot through his body, his entire being feeling electrified with the sensation.

"Yuu?" his legs gave out from under him, his strength failing him as he clutched the ground as he felt his canines elongate and the strange chill of his Psychometric ability enter his body. His eyes changed to electric-green and the others came to him trying to find out what had happened.

"Hey?! Yuu? Come on, what's happening?" Mika asked as he looked at the boy.

"Hyakuya! Answer us!" Mika grabbed his brother, trying to help him figure out what was happening.

"It hurts… please... it hurts…. please, someone…. help me, it hurts so much…."

"Yuuichiro! Calm down, you've got to remain calm, if you don't it'll only push it further…"

"Asuramaru…what's happening I…"

"Yuu, come on, please…." Shinoa pleaded as she put her hands upon him and he buckled under the touch, his body reacting in agony at the sensation.

"It hurts… I…." the boy stared onward at the ground, his eyes wide as Mika tried to get the boy to answer him as he looked at his brother.

"Yuu, you've gotta…" Mika looked at the boy's eyes as he glanced towards him.

"Why does he have red around his pupils? What's happening?" the boy's arms collapsed, his body caving as he took in a series of rushed breaths, trying to calm his panic.

"Yuu?" the boy's vision blurred before starting to turn black.

"Hey! Answer us!" called Hide.

"Yuuichiro!" his vision blinked out and the group began to panic.

"What's happening?" asked Kaneki as he looked at the boy.

"I don't know, we've gotta get him to Tokyo Park, come on, hurry!" Mika picked up him into his arms, holding him close as the others readied their weapons and began a mad dash towards the area where the light was shining for them to get to the Park, and hopefully, meet up with Guren and the others.

"Don't worry Yuu, we'll be there soon… just hold on…"

{Streets: 11:02pm}

The black, hair-like tendrils of Mahiru-No-Yo flared outwards like a current of midnight-toned ink as the group worked alongside Irimi to get to the Park. The group had been going head to head with the creatures and other vampires that the Noble had thrown at them constantly. Now, their injuries were beginning to worsen; however, for the time being, Guren had to applaud himself in the fact that none of the troops had died. Thus far, helping the Ghouls had proven to be a highly supportive choice and had allowed their survival chances to greatly increase. He only could hope that they could continue this streak of good fortune.

"How much further out are we?" Shinya asked Irimi.

"Only a mile out, we can get there before eleven-thirty."

"Good, we need to hurry," Guren stated as he checked his watch.

"Sir?" deep-purple-brown looked to amber-brown.

"Just call it a gut feeling, but something is definitely wrong," Guren stated.

He had noticed it a few minutes ago; something was amiss. At first, he only assumed it was him being paranoid, and then, he realized that there had been a strange shift in Yuuichiro's energy. From there, he had theorized upon multiple factors, but one in particular kept coming to his mind that he only hoped wasn't the case. Guren shook himself out, deciding that he would ponder the possibilities once he'd been able to speak with everyone: once they were out of this disaster zone. He took in another breath, his mind racing, thoughts going through everything else that could be wrong and hoping that he was right about it being something else.

Guren, being in the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, and the leader of the Moon Demon Company, he had long since prepared himself for potential losses; however, he had trained Yuuichiro and Mikaela Hyakuya to be so adept at their skills – and had even gone so far as to hone their unique abilities – so that they would survive. Knowing that Yuuichiro was a Naturopath, and Mikaela an Abjurist, was nothing but an elating detail to him only because: it nearly guaranteed their survival, and the survival of their teammates. With a small smile, Guren charged forward with his teammates, hoping above all else, that he would get to see his group of now fourteen brats.

"Please, just don't let their eyes turn red…."

Finally, at the end of the street the group of seven darted down the remaining roadway and at long last made it to the park where they were greeted with the sight of the fourteen teenagers crowded together, looking positively bedraggled, worn down, and utterly spent on energy.

Guren had hoped that Yuu would have been up and trying to heal them, but the boy was lying in Mika's arms, unconscious. The man picked up his pace, panicking as he felt an unnatural fear curl inside him as he rushed to the children as quickly as his legs would carry him before sliding to a stop as he looked at the group.

"What the hell happened?!" he demanded as the others caught up with him.

"Lieutenant Colonel, you can't just… Yuuichiro!" Sayuri got down on her knees in front of Mika and began to check on the other boy's temperature and pulse.

"He collapsed… he was in a lot of pain and… we don't really know what caused it," Kimizuki answered.

"Guren?" Sayuri looked to him as he shook his head.

"Just keep calm, he'll be fine in a bit. Let him rest for a few and once he gets up he should be alright," he stated as he sighed.

"Do you know something? Lieutenant Colonel?" Shinoa glared at him and the man looked down.

"We'll talk about it once the mission is over," he stated.

"Swear it?" Guren frowned.

"Come on Mika, don't look at me like that. Now's not the time too…" a faint movement in the blonde's arms caused him to look down at his brother.

"Yuu!" the group gathered around him as he slowly opened his eyes.

Tired emerald-eyes looked around as his senses slowly returned to him. His body feeling the residual ache of whatever had caused him to hurt like he had. Yuu's gaze went from directly above him and to the faces of all of those around him before he took in a slow breath and steadily got up as he got his bearings once again and looked to Mika and Shinoa.

"What happened?" Guren smirked.

"You passed out, good to see you awake," he said. Yuu frowned as he looked at him.

"Sorry, I felt kind of weird a bit ago…" the other nodded.

"It's just a bit of a strain from using so much energy. That happens sometimes," Guren assured him as he crouched in front of the boy before looking to him.

He was pale, tired, and covered in dirt, soot, ash, blood, and scrapes; however, he was still alive: they were all still in one piece. Looking towards the boy, he smiled and reached out a gentle hand to rough his messy raven-black hair before he felt relief wash over him as the boy looked into his eyes and he saw the tiniest tinge of red around his pupils, but other than that, he seemed perfectly fine. He ran his fingers through the boy's hair once more before doing the same to Mika and then he wrapped an arm around Akane, feeling relief cover him even further.

"Their okay…. all of them are, and thankfully, Yuu's eyes aren't red, nor is Mika's…let's just hope things continue to go in our favor." Guren stood up and looked to them all as Yuu, Mika, and Akane got to their feet before he cleared his throat.

"Good job on staying alive so far. The fourteen of you are remarkably good at working together, but we're not done yet…we're only thirteen miles shy of the First Ward, and the Tenth Progenitor, Hans Weisberg. This is going to be one hell of a fight, so… are all of you ready?" asked the man.

"Yea!" the group of fourteen stated in reply before Sayuri looked to them.

"We need to heal right quick, Yuu? Do you feel up to lending a hand?" the boy smirked, nodding as he bit down on the end of his gloves before tugging it off as he tucked them away into his pockets as he looked to everyone.

"No problem. If there are any fractures or severe bruising, I'll deal with you guys first. After that, any mild abrasions, alright?" he stated.

"Wait, what?!" the boy smiled before looking to Mika's side as the blonde realized how bad the cut was starting to look.

"I guess Fenrir is holding the wound's damage back from you feeling it," Yuu stated as he placed his hands upon the injury and the Ghouls watched as it healed up right before their eyes.

"Thanks, he said he couldn't hold it back much longer." Mika stepped away, and the others started to file in and let the boy do what he needed to.

Yuu set to focusing on the humans and the ones who needed the most attention to their injuries before working on the milder wounds as he felt his own begin to dissipate. Guren was the last to receive treatment while the Ghouls checked the formerly afflicted areas and the rest straightened out their uniforms a bit before checking their Gear.

Yuuichiro took in a deep breath, Guren taking note of the faint expansion of the red in his eyes – however slight it may have been – and frowned before putting that detail away for later usage. He stood, and the order came from him to move out before the group of twenty made their way down the street, and towards the First Ward, where Hans Weisberg awaited them.

{….}

Hopeless, can you hear me calling?

{…}

Author's Note: Well, this is a shorter chapter, but I think it does its job. Some of the details are a little crammed together, but I have a good bit to still fit into each chapter and I don't want to bore anyone. So, let me know what you guys think, and I'll see you next time.

Chapter 5: Kagune & Feathers