Chapter 3: The Demon Army
"Huraaaaah!"
Fistblows landed against Mika's face. He fell down. The delinquents surrounding him began kicking him with all of their strengths. Malicious Guffaws wafted in the air as Mika curled his body into a ball in order to protect his lungs and his ribs from the hard blows. He closed his eyes to endure the pain. After all, that's what he is good at-enduring pain.
"Mika-kun!" Yoichi called aghast. Shino who was standing farther away from the group was aghast at the scene he was witnessing. He ran towards the group, eyes wide.
Yoichi scrambled to stand up to help Mika, but he was pushed away with a kick in the stomach.
"Don't interfere wimp! This is what this pretty boy gets for going against us. Hahaha."
The leader crouched, grabbed Mika's hair and forced Mika to look at him. Mika's face was scrunched in pain and submission.
"You're not so tough eh?" The leader in a haughty obnoxious way splattered his vile saliva on Mika's face as he talked. The leader stood up, perched his hands on his hips and motioned his men to go.
"Pathetic. So much for being a prodigy Hyakuya."
Mika spread his arms as if preparing himself to embrace the sky; as if it would make the pain that he felt from their fists and their kicks go away; as if one could just get rid of pain just by looking at how calm the sky is.
Yeah. I'm really pathetic.
He saw white clouds roll on the vast blue sky and remembered the number of times he'd been in this situation before. He remembered all those times he ran away after stealing food because he was famished, and those times he lay just like this, arms spread looking at the sky feeling pathetic, wishing a different future for himself. It was a bit later, when his thoughts finally collected that he noticed the burning sensation from the sun spilling across his skin burn him up. He felt like a humid afternoon in the flesh, and he ached all over. His scratches and bruises reminded him of how fragile and feeble human beings are. Sometimes he wished he was a vampire. After all, if he was one he could be strong enough to protect those he cared for. He would be strong enough to protect her most especially.
He had trained hard to be strong. He was good in hand to hand combat. But the number of opponents he had overwhelmed him. It was a losing game from the start, he knew this. Also, they were not allowed to fight against civilians. It was their oath as a soldier of the demon army to protect the civilians from any harm and not the one inflicting harm on them. Even despite everything, he still thought of his duties as a soldier. Even though Lt. Col. Ichinose did not acknowledge him as one.
Mika batted his eyes and breathed deeply. Sometimes the sky was infuriating. Yuu came to mind. Was she alive? He wondered if she were, was she also looking at this very same sky somewhere far from him? Mika narrowed his eyes as he felt a pang in his heart.
Running footsteps escaped him. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists to compose himself. That's when he realized he couldn't move. He opened his eyes again, only to gaze at the face of the boy he earlier saved. His face was worried. The scratches on his face made Mika feel awkward. The way he contorted his face in guilt was annoying. He heard someone ran towards them. Now, the blue sky was completely covered by Shino and the boy's faces. They covered the glimmer of sunshine that he saw and the white feathery clouds that rolled. Somehow, he felt his heart melt slightly with the sensation of gratitude. He felt less alone as he gazed at their figures looming over him.
Maybe he could really start over. Maybe he could really be happy if he allowed himself to. But how about Yuu? He can't allow himself happiness if Yuu was suffering somewhere. He can't be happy if he wouldn't be able to share his happiness with her.
"Are you okay Mika-kun?"
Shino and the boy grabbed his hand and hauled him up.
"I'm so sorry Mika-kun, if it weren't for me you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
Mika really hated weak people. Those kinds of people who are jittery: anxiety wearing human skin. That's why, he didn't reply. But standing up was very difficult so he allowed the two to do whatever they pleased.
They carried Mika over one arm each to guide him to a bench. It didn't take long enough for them to finally find one underneath the bower of the cherry blossom tree. The faint scent of cherryblossom flowers wafted soothingly in the air.
"I'm going to bring Mika-kun some water. Let's get him to the infirmary office after that." The boy told Shino. Shino nodded in agreement.
They were quiet. Mika was touching his face to know where else he had cuts. His body hurt all over. He didn't really understand why he did all of that. When he saw those students ganging up on that boy, he didn't really think he would help him. He was the kind of person that didn't interfere with things like those. But when he saw the look on that boy's eyes, when he saw how powerless the boy was, he remembered Yuu. He remembered how he left her behind and it broke his heart, and made him think that maybe, maybe if he could've been stronger, he would have been able to save her. But he wasn't strong. That was the hardest part to accept. In his desire to redeem himself he rushed without thinking.
His eyes were starting to sting from the tears that he was trying to hold back. He was holding them back because he didn't want Shino to see him cry. He didn't want him to think that he was crying because he was defeated. How petty of a reason it was if he thought him a cry baby just because of losing.
Mika pressed his lips together and leaned forwards to cover his face. The warmth of the sun streaming through the cracks of the leaves was stinging his back and his face.
"What's wrong Mika-kun?" Shino asked. When Mika didn't reply he offered him his handkerchief.
He patted Mika's shoulder. At that, Mika lifted his eyes and took the handkerchief. Seeing Mika's face that was full of scratches and bruises, Shino couldn't help but feel a little bit warmer towards the other boy. Yes, he was just tasked by Lt. Col. Ichinose to make sure Mika made friends. Yes, he was just merely here for the fun of it all, but seeing Mika this way, reminded him of something. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the other boy they were with scream, "Mika-san, Shino-kun!" as he carried three water bottles pressed against his chest.
When the boy finally reached them, he was heaving and handed them their bottles. After taking them from him the other boy slumped heavily down the space beside Mika and drank as if he just did a marathon.
Mika just stared at the other aghast. Beside him, Shino chuckled.
"Isn't this great Mika-kun? You finally found a friend!"
Mika wasn't comfortable talking about friends. The cross that he carries with him still weighed on his heart. But maybe, he thought, it was about time he opened himself up to things like this, it was about time for him not to be so hard on himself. And so, he looked at Shino, blue eyes bright as the panels of sunshine struck them, he smiled an awkward smile. His eyebrows quirked in a funny way, and his mouth curled in a way that made Shino feel like, at long last, Mika was finally trying to at least open himself up to other people.
"Lt. Col. will be very pleased Mika-kun!"
"Ummm, excuse me, I think, we should get Mika-san to the infirmary first."
Mika shifted his gaze towards the other boy and just stared at him.
"Ah, ummm.." the other's eyes were shifting from left to right. He pressed his index fingers together.
"I'm Yoichi Saotome, nice to meet you."
Mika was about to say something when Shino leaned towards him, close for comfort and greeted Yoichi,
"Nice to meet you Yoichi-kun! I hope you can be very good friends with Mika-kun here. After all he saved you like a prince in a fairytale didn't he? Make sure you get along very well with him."
Mika blushed. He hated Shino's guts.
He glared at him. His face said, you didn't have to say all of that you punk!
Shino narrowed his eyes, and leered at him. He covered his mouth using a hand,
"Oho~ Mika-kun is embarrassed, this is nice." Then he turned to Yoichi, "He is such a very shy young man Yoichi-kun, so pardon him!"
"Ugh, let's just go to the infirmary and get this over with!" Mika said, stripping off every layer of his indifference.
That afternoon, Shino reported to Lt. Col. Guren Ichinose about Mika's progress. When Mika went home, Guren asked him to come to his office.
"I heard you finally found a friend."
Mika didn't reply, he just stared at his benefactor without even an ounce of emotion on his face.
"What's with that look on your face brat?" Guren said irritated. He didn't really like dealing with Mika like this. The kid was always difficult and apathetic to most things and just spent all his time at the library doing who knows what, or practicing his combat skills.
"Nothing, I just thought it was about time you agreed to make me participate in training with the demon army."
"You think you would be able to handle it?"
"Just what do you take me for?" Mika said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Of course, I would be able to handle it. You've seen me work hard, Lt. Col. Even despite my difficulty to make friends, you should have just allowed me to participate in the training knowing how hard I've been working all this time."
Guren laid back on his chair and looked lazily up at Mika. He clicked his tongue and replied,
"But how can a brat like you actually be useful in a group if you can't be friends with anyone? You should take the lesson that you learned in this exercise to heart, shitty brat or else who knows what would happen to you.
"You were allowed in the past to participate in small missions just to give you experience, but remembered how you froze? Remembered how you weren't able to work well with your members and made trouble for them?"
Mika frowned.
"I know. I've been trying to make amends, constantly practicing and reading all those…"
"Silly boy. You really think just mere practicing by yourself and reading all those junk would help you actually do well in a group?" Guren sneered. He chuckled. It made Mika feel small.
"You don't understand at all!" Mika screamed not able to hold back his feelings any longer. He always thought that Guren was an insensitive jerk. Guren sighed and stood up. He paced the room and stopped in front of Mika. He patted him on the head and sighed,
"You know you were cuter when you were this snot nosed brat that was clinging to me for dear life begging me to save "Yuu".
Mika glared at Guren. A reddish tinge suffused his pale cheeks.
"Ah. He's right, children grow less cute as time passes by."
Guren scratched his head as he felt Mika's muscles tighten. He ruffled his hair,
"You know what, you are really a pain in the ass brat. Stop being so sorry about everything and just focus on what's in front of you! Do you think Yuu-chan would want to see you like this? Have more confidence in yourself, you've been working hard right? From the very moment I saved you, up until now, you've been working hard. Don't let all your efforts go to waste just because of your stubbornness. Tomorrow is a new day, and you are going to start your training for the Demon Army."
Mika raised his head at that,
"Really? I'm going to start my training tomorrow?"
"Yeah, isn't that good?"
"Yes. Yes, it is! Thank you Lt. Col."
Mika bowed deeply. He was very happy.
A/N: To Guest that commented on the earlier chapters, thank you for comments! I'm glad you like it, to be honest that crowyuu moment was my fave scene too. I'm so guilty *covers face* .