Chapter Rating: T
Summary: That night, Yuu and Mika go to the supermarket to buy groceries. On the way back, they stop by and enjoy the scenery.
It wasn't until the sun had started setting that Mika realized he needed to go to the supermarket to get some food for dinner.
"Heeh? Mika, we have instant noodles, though..." Yuu muttered under his breath, turning around so that he lay on his back with his hands behind his head.
"You can't have instant noodles every day," Mika retorted. He put his coat on, heading to the side of the bed and standing over Yuu with his hands on his hips.
"Can to."
...He had that stubborn expression on his face again. Mika sighed.
"Well, just come anyway. I might get kidnapped if I go alone."
A lame excuse, but it had to suffice.
「I'm never letting you go..!」
「... I want us to be together forever.」
He recalled those words that came out of his own mouth just hours before. It was impulsive, and slightly embarrassing, but he didn't regret any of it. In fact, Yuu found it thoroughly... beautiful.
Yuu sighed. He himself resented the time where he ran away from the Vampire City, leaving his family behind. Leaving Mika. He remembered the crushing feeling that stole his breath when he thought - saw Mika get killed, and how he hated himself for escaping.
「Just live, until you find a good reason to want to live. Then, one day, someone who needs your help will show up.」
Even when he was in a state of what Guren dubbed being 'miserably alive', those words had kept him going.
Those words had led him to Mika, the good reason to live, which was standing right in front of him.
"...Fine, then."
Yuu sat up on the side of the bed, extending a hand and allowing Mika to pull him to his feet. Yuu smiled, grabbing his own jacket and heading towards the door.
The salty wind from the sea tousled his hair as soon as he took a step outside. The sea had always been calming to him; the coolness that came with the waves that crashed upon each other, the singing of birds in the sky, and the view of the vast expanse itself. The sky seemed to connect with the sea and stretch out forever.
It was pretty close to a perfect embodiment of the freedom he longed for whilst being imprisoned in the Vampire City.
"Yuu, let's go. The shops will close."
Yuu blinked, turning around.
"We can sit here for a while later. Even if you want to eat out here, that's fine." Mika took Yuu's hands in his own, heading off to the main road and leaving footprints in the sand.
The light of the mall was the only light that colored the dimming sky, save for the occasional streetlamp that flickered intermittently. The roads had cracks in them and boulders punctuated the endless scene of grey. The ruins of buildings were testimony enough of the destruction brought by the war between vampires and humans.
They turned into the car park outside of the mall, pushing through the glass doors which led them into the grocery shop. A chill ran down Mika's spine. He remembered bringing Yuu here whilst the latter was unconscious, and he remembered the whispers of children who hid behind the half-empty shelves, cowering in fear at his arrival.
He remembered throwing one boy the the floor, gripped by the tremendous lust for blood.
「Monster!」
That had jolted him to his senses, buying time for the boy to run away as he froze, paralyzed for a few moments.
Monster.
He repeated that word to himself over and over again, detesting the inhuman part of him. He slipped his hand into Yuu's.
"Mika?" The black haired boy sounded worried.
"I wonder if there are even cashiers here now," Mika mused out loud.
"It would technically be theft if we just took the stuff, right?"
Yuu had raised a valid point. Mika shrugged, deciding that at a time when only one tenth of the population remained and when survival itself was a day-by-day challenge... Taking some rice, a box of corn soup, a can of sardines and some canned tomatoes wouldn't do anyone too much harm, right?
He checked the expiry dates and placed them in a bag, turning to exit the grocery store.
"Anything else you want?" Mika turned to Yuu, and the two of them stared at each other for a while.
This grocery store was such a weird place to be, Mika thought.
It was where he bit Yuu.
It was where he clung to Yuu, holding him against the metal racks, knowing that Yuu would never leave him even if he were a monster.
Everything was the same now as it were then - Except, there were no sounds of children's footsteps in the shadows.
He briefly wondered how they were doing.
Maybe they have their own family too. If they look out for one another, that's... Good, right?
He turned his attention back to the present and noticed that Yuu had taken a box of curry and another few packs of instant noodles off the rack.
"Okay, fine."
They walked across the cracked ground of the grocery store, stepping through the doorway and basking in the silvery moonlight. They traced their footsteps. It had gotten darker and cooler since they had departed from that small house on the beach, and with regard to that Mika was grateful for both his jacket and Yuu's hands. Crossing the beach once again, he went into the house and dropped off the bag of groceries, before walking out again and sitting on the sand beside Yuu.
"The stars are pretty," Yuu said.
Mika followed Yuu's gaze, and looked up at the clear galaxy overhead. He recognized some of the brighter ones which were planets, and some constellations he'd seen before in the books from the library in the Vampire City. Somewhere deep inside his chest, he recognized a certain peaceful calm that only existed in these times when he was with Yuu.
"It always looked stormy in Sanguinem." Yuu leaned over, resting his head on Mika's lap, admiring the reflection of the silver moon in the water as the wind ruffled its surface. "Sanguinem... There are still kids being kept there as livestock now, right?"
"Yeah." Absentmindedly, Mika brushed the tips of his fingers across Yuu's cheeks, a smile pulling at his lips as Yuu's eyes closed.
"We'll go save them soon. And that idiot Guren." Yuu's eyes opened, bright green with determination. He turned, nuzzling against Mika whose hand trailed up to play with his hair, cradling his head. He burrowed his nose in Mika's lap.
「He's possessed!」
Inside his head, Yuu heard Shinoa's voice, decorated with a trace of anger directed at the person called Guren who had served as his caretaker, savior and mentor since he left the Vampire City. Miharu. Shinoa's sister. That was the demon that possessed Guren's weapon, right? And. The important person he couldn't save.
「- Not possessed」
That was what Guren said anyway. Then Yuu remembered him smiling, standing amidst the wreckage born from Mirai's and his own destruction. No - He was crying, right?
... That idiot.
Somewhat frustrated, he tugged at the fabric of Mika's pants around his calf.
"Yuu?"
Yuu smiled at the call of his name.
"I can do anything, with Mika around..."