Here we are at Chapter 3. Let's just say that things will heat up a little bit in this chapter. Also, for those who are wondering about Fuyumi's blind eyes, while she may be blind, her other senses are strong enough where she doesn't really need to see. Think of Denzel Washington in Book of Eli (great movie). Plus, she's a revenant, and revenants are stronger than humans in so many ways, so their senses are probably stronger as well. Anyway, I do not own Code Vein. They belong to Bandai Namco. I only own my OC. Here's chapter 3. Enjoy.

Chapter 3: A Good Pair

Fuyumi POV

I find myself in my room, sleeping as the morning sun just starts to rise up over the horizon, rays of sunlight sneaking their way into my room through my window curtains. I groan as the sunlight starts to flow onto my face and turns away, not yet ready to wake up.

"Fuyumi, it's time to wake up," the voice of Mia says as she appears next to my bed.

"Ugh, five more minutes," I groan, pulling the covers over myself a little more.

"Come on, now, Fuyumi. I made that tea you like. If you don't wake up now, it'll get cold," Mia says as she looms over me, one hand laying on the bed next to Fuyumi's head, and her twin-tails falling on the sides of her face. I open my eyes up, if only just a little bit. Mia smiles, "There you are. Come on, let's go have some tea," she says.

"Could you help me wake up first?" I ask, a little more awake now.

Mia moves a little closer, giggling a bit, "Oh, Fuyumi. You know that if you want me to help you wake up, you need to ask politely," she says.

"Fine... Could you help me wake up, please?" I ask again.

"That's better," Mia whispers as she leans closer, and my gaze focuses on her beautiful lips.

I incline my head just a little, her lips growing closer to mine. They're only mere centimeters away and then...

…

I suddenly wake up in my bed, the morning sun gleaming through the curtains of my window. Oh, it was just a dream. Wait a moment, it was a dream that had Mia in it, and she was about to... about to... I suddenly bolt up in my bed, my cheeks turning red from the thought.

"No, there's no way. It was only a dream. That's all, a dream," I mutter to myself, shaking my head a bit.

After clearing my mind up, I decide to head out to find Louis to see what the plan was for today. As usual, I find him near the map of Vein, a hand on his chin. Guess he's thinking deeply in his head again.

"Good morning, Louis," I greet him.

"Oh, good morning Fuyumi. How are you today?" he greets me back.

"I'm fine. So, what's the plan for today? We heading back out to look for the source?" I ask.

"That's what I was hoping for, but Davis received a message from the provisional government that was sent for us," Louis says.

"What was it about?" I ask.

It's not exactly normal when the provisional government comes looking for revenants like us, not when they've got bigger things to deal with.

"I can tell you about that," I hear and look back to see Davis joining us, followed by Mia and Yakumo. My thoughts return to my dream upon seeing her face, but I quickly put them aside to focus on the matter at hand. "Apparently, a large group of Lost are on a path directly towards one of our human shelters in the north. Now, Lost straying too close to them aren't uncommon, but the numbers we're getting are rather high, and what's more they seem to be organized, if by only a small margin. To make matters worse, previous Lost incursions and problems with some renegade revenants have our forces spread thin. I informed them about your group, nothing major or bad, just that you're all skilled in combatting the Lost, and they asked if you would be willing to take care of the Lost before they reach the shelter," Davis informs us.

Yakumo rubs his head, "Can't say I exactly approve of working for the government. Yeah, they protect the humans, but that levy system of theirs makes things really hard for revenants out there in Vein. That's why some resort to crap like what that one group tried to do to Fuyumi and Io before Louis found them. And why more and more revenants have been joining the ranks of the Lost," he says, and I agree on a few points he's made.

"Be that as it may, those humans did not ask for this. If the Lost get to them, it will only make things even harder for everyone. We'll help the shelter. How soon before the Lost reach it?" Louis asks.

"Reports say that they'll reach the outer perimeter of the shelter later today, so there's not much time," Davis says.

"If their defenses are down, those humans won't last a few minutes against the Lost," Mia says, and I nod in agreement.

"Mia's right. We have to help them," Yakumo adds.

"Then it's settled. Gather what you need and let's get going. Murasame has already finished repairing our gear. Let's go," Louis says.

We all get our blood veils and our weapons, along with some supplies for the mission. Before I go, I say goodbye to Io.

"You're going. Please, be safe," Io says, sitting on her bed.

"I'll be fine. I'll have the others with me," I say.

"If you find any vestiges in the area, please don't hesitate to bring them to me," Io says.

I nod, "I will. See you later," I say and take my leave to meet with the others before we head out.

We all leave the church and make our way through the old city ruins. Luckily, having gone through that way before, we are able to sneak around some of the Lost there to save time, while only taking out a few others. All-the-while, my mind occasionally wanders to Mia. That dream was just that, a dream. And yet, I can't help but wonder: why would I dream of something like that? And what about Mia? Would she feel the same way? Of course, there's no way I can just ask her something that personal, and I'm not gonna ask the guys about this either, so I just focus on the task at hand for now. Eventually, we reach the shelter that Davis told us about, finding only a few Cerberus guards in the area. One of them meets with us.

"Are you the revenants that Davis sent?" he asks.

"We are. How long before the Lost show up?" Louis asks.

"Not long. We've got the humans and staff inside, and the compound has been locked down, but if the Lost are as many as the reports say, then that may not be enough," he says.

"We'll see what we can do," Louis says.

While Louis and Mia do some scouting on one of the upper floors in a nearby building, Yakumo and I take point at the north exit of the shelter where the Lost are said to be approaching from.

"So, how many do you think will show up?" Yakumo asks, resting his sword on his shoulder.

"I don't know, but it sounds like quite a few," I reply.

Just then, Mia and Louis return, only they were running to us, which can only mean one thing.

"They're coming!" Mia says.

"And there's quite a few of them. We'll need to try and thin their numbers a bit before they reach the outer perimeter. Fuyumi, you, Mia, and I can thin them out a bit with our blood gifts. Yakumo, you get the first swing when they get close, and then we'll back you up. Let's go," Louis says.

Mia and I take the front with Louis, readying our gifts. Though my abilities allow me to use and inherit many blood codes, I've been using Louis' since it works for me the most for now, or at least until I find a blood code that I can really connect with. Focusing back on the problem in front of us, I see a large number of Lost heading towards us, mostly the usual kind we see around the city ruins and the underground. They all mostly have swords and bardiches, but there are a few larger Lost with zweihanders as their weapons. I don't see any with bayonets, so that's one good thing, but what troubles me is that there must be something hiding amongst them. Either way, they all have to be taken out.

As soon as the Lost get close enough, Louis and I fire off our blazing roar attacks while Mia uses one of her Artemis gifts with her bayonet, and together we take out a few of the Lost. This gets the rest of their attention and they all charge in at us. Yakumo uses one of his gifts to give us better defense and then readies his blade. Two Lost come at him and he makes a wide swing with his sword, cleaving them both in two. A third Lost comes at his side, but Louis stabs his blade through its chest. The boys nod to each other while Mia and I move up. I slice through one Lost as it tries to attack, followed by jumping into the air to swing my blade through the neck of a second one. Mia fires her bayonet, taking out two more. One of the larger Lost attacks with its zweihander at her, but she jumps back and then shoots out her stinger tail through its chest. She pulls it out, and then I send out my stinger tail to take out a second Lost near het left flank. She nods to me and I nod back. My confusion around her seems to dissipate as e fight together. Though we haven't been friends long, it feels so right when we fight side by side.

Meanwhile, I see Yakumo swing his sword around in a few twists, taking out a few more Lost. One of the larger Lost swings its large sword down on him, but he deflects it to the ground. Louis runs along the blade and swings his sword, beheading the creature. Louis then blocks a strike from another Lost, redirects it and then slashes through his next foe. Mia and I work in tandem, taking out two more Lost. I jump in the air and spin my blade around to take out another Lost, followed by Mia who uses the blade on her bayonet to stab through the heart of another Lost.

"There sure are a large number of them," I note, looking around.

"Yeah, but their numbers are dropping. We just got to keep them back and deplete their forces little by little," Mia says, firing at another Lost behind us as we stand back-to-back.

Unfortunately, a few of the Lost manage to get past the four of us, and make their way to the shelter. Luckily, a few Cerberus soldiers are there and fire off their bayonets, keeping them from reaching the shelter. Yakumo jumps up and then slams his sword on the ground, sending out a shockwave that knocks back a few more Lost. Louis takes this chance to zip by each of them, making a few swings of his sword to take them out. Yakumo follows this up by sending out his hounds to tear another Lost in half. Meanwhile, Louis uses his ogre claw to rip through another Lost. Within a few minutes, we manage to take out the rest of the Lost and things begin to calm down.

"You okay?" I ask Mia.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Good job out there," Mia says.

We regroup with Louis and Yakumo, "I don't get it. From the sound of things, I thought this would be a lot harder," Yakumo says.

Suddenly, we hear noise from behind us. I glare at Yakumo.

"You just had to jinx us, didn't you," I say.

We see a few more Lost coming our way now, only this time, it's a group of those huge, fat Lost with their hammers and two-handed swords... and they're being led by a Queen's Knight.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. A Queen's Knight. This isn't good," Yakumo says.

"That would explain such a large group of Lost. That knight is leading them somehow," Louis theorizes.

"Well, either way, we have to take them out," Mia adds.

"Agreed. Mia, you and Fuyumi deal with the knight. Yakumo, you and I will take care of the rest of the Lost. Let's move," Louis says, readying his blade.

The knight roars and aims its blade at us, a command for the other Lost to attack. Mia and I make the first move by sending out our stinger tails at them, skewering one bloated Lost together. We have to pull our tails back just in time for when the knight attacks us. It makes a charge with its sword out, forcing us to dodge out of the way. It then swings its blade and shield at us, forcing us back. Mia fires off a blood gift with her bayonet, staggering it a bit and giving me the chance to attack from behind with a slash-type gift from by blood code. The knight roars and swings its blade at me. I roll under the swing, only to jump back when it tries to smash its shield on me. I fire off a blazing roar at it, but it blocks with its shield. Mia comes from behind with her stinger tail, getting a clean hit in, but the knight only roars in rage before jumping up and phasing out. Suddenly, it reappears behind Mia from the air, his blade reeled back. I move fast enough to block the swing, but the collision knocks me back. Mia jumps back and fires her bayonet, keeping its attention on her while I get back on my feet.

"This thing is tough," I mutter.

The knight spins around, swinging its sword and the wings on its back like blades at Mia. Mia rolls under the attack, and I come back in, swinging my sword at it. It blocks with its shield and pushes me back, but Mia comes in and stabs its lower side with her bayonet. The knight looks back at her and phases out again, only to reappear beside her and swing its blade. Mia manages to block the strike, but gets sent flying back into some rubble. Seeing that monster attack her ignites a fire inside of me. I charge at the knight, firing off another blazing roar at it. The blast hits clear and gets its attention. It thrusts its blade at me, but I parry the attack as I charge at it, spinning around while bringing out my stinger tail, swinging it around to knock it in its face. I press the attack with a flurry of slashes to its chest. The knight stumbles back but then phases out again. It reappears high nearby and slams its sword onto the ground, sending out a cross-shaped attack that nearly hits me, though I manage to jump out of the way.

The knight phases out again, only to reappear right beside me, swinging its sword again. I roll under the attack and swing my sword upwards, getting another hit in. I follow it up with a blazing roar attack at point-blank range, knocking it further back. The knight swings its sharp wings around at me, but I roll under the attack again. It turns to face me again, but then gets hit from the side by a few shots from Mia, who's back on her feet. The knight is weakened fom the battle, and now is the chance to finish it off. It phases out again, reappearing beside Mia, who rolls out of the way of its sword. It does the same process, coming at me this time with a downward slash. I evade it and it disappears again, reappearing up in the air to slam his sword down on the ground again, releasing its cross-shaped attack again along the ground. Mia and I evade the attack and send both of our stinger tails out at the knight. The stingers finally manage to penetrate through the knight's skull and heart, finally taking it out. We pull our stingers back and watch as the knight's body fades away into haze.

I breathe a sigh of relief, but remember the other Lost, only to look back to see that Yakumo and Louis have already dealt with the rest of them. I look to Mia, who smiles back at me. I'm just glad that she's still alive and safe. However, my joy quickly changes when I see alone Lost with a lost bayonet appear from the distance in the rubble, aiming its weapon at her from behind.

"Mia!" I shout and rush in without thinking.

I push Mia out of the way, and take the shot that as meant for her.

Mia POV

"Mia!" Fuyumi shouts at me.

The next thing I know, she pushes me out of the way, and then a shot rings out and hits her a couple inches below her heart. I fall to the ground, as does Fuyumi, shocked by what just happen. I look back at the Lost that shot her and quickly aim my bayonet at it and pull the trigger several times, each shot going through the monster until it dies. Louis and Yakumo hear the commotion and rush to our side. I focus on Fuyumi. The shot went cleanly through, but she was losing blood. That fight with the knight must've weakened her a bit, like it did me, so her regeneration has been weakened.

"We need blood beads!" I say, trying and failing to keep calm.

"We left them at the shelter. I'll go get them!" Louis says and makes a run for it.

"I'll keep you guys safe," Yakumo says, standing guard.

I pick Fuyumi up in my arms, trying to keep the wound from bleeding more.

"Mia," Fuyumi says, her strength fading a bit.

"It's gonna be alright, Fuyumi. I got you," I said, and then out of desperation, do something a little crazy. "Fuyumi, listen, take my blood. It'll help you heal until Louis gets back," I say.

"Wait, what? What are you doing, Mia?" Yakumo asks.

"Helping Fuyumi!" I say, moving part of my blood veil to the side to expose my neck and shoulder. I pull Fuyumi close, and she hesitates for a moment. "It's okay Fuyumi. I'll get a blood bead from Louis. Just drink," I say soothingly.

With that, Fuyumi plunges her fangs through my skin and starts sucking my blood. I gasp from the sudden contact, but keep Fuyumi close so she can drink. She wraps her arms around me and holds me tight. I can feel her draining more of my blood. I can feel the effects of a frenzy starting to take hold, but I brave through it to help her. However, I also feel a slight euphoric feeling coursing through my body from her drinking my blood.

"It's okay, Fuyumi. I'm here. I'm here," I whisper to her.

After a few more seconds, Fuyumi stops sucking and releases me, and we both take a few deep breaths. Louis finally arrives and prepares to give Fuyumi the blood beads, but she points to me, and Yakumo tells him what happened. I take a couple of blood beads and suck them dry, regaining my strength. Fuyumi calms down and manages a smile at me, which I return.

"You okay now?" I ask.

"Yeah, just a little tired, I guess. I'm fine," she replies, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

"I think we've dealt with the Lost now, finally. Come on, let's get back to the shelter. We'll rest there before heading back to base," Louis says.

I help Fuyumi up and have her wrap one arm around my shoulders while she regains her strength as we walk back to the shelter.

"Hey Mia," Fuyumi mutters.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Thanks... for your help. Your blood was actually... pretty sweet," she says, trying to joke a little bit.

However, it has a different effect in making me blush a bit. At the end of the day, I'm just glad that we all survived, Fuyumi most of all.

"I'm just glad you're okay. I don't know what I'd do if I were to lose you. I already lost my brother, I don't want to lose you too," I say.

Fuyumi stares at me for what feels like forever before inclining closer to me.

"You won't. I promise," Fuyumi says.

Those words make me feel better. I'm losing someone else I care about. Not ever again.

Fuyumi POV

Being this close to Mia, seeing how worried she was about me, and how... happy it makes me feel. I think it's pretty obvious now. I think I like Mia... a lot.

And that's the chapter. A little battle to keep things from slowing down too much, and for some dormant feelings to start to surface for our revenant girls. Now, things can start getting more interesting. Who knows what will happen next? Until then, please Read and Review.