Reflection

Mika gave a sigh as he opened the door to his bedroom and closed the door behind him after stepping inside. It was nearly ten and the rest of his friends had retired for the night, as the villagers expected them to be up by the crack of dawn tomorrow to resume their monster extermination duties as well as helping out with other work around the village if they still wanted to keep their current home.

It had been nearly three months since the battle at Nagoya and Yuu as well as Kimizuki had long since recovered from their injuries, but the squad cannot move on just yet because Yuu still needed time to learn how to control and restrain the demon within himself. Which required him to be chained up at least two to three hours a day, sometimes even longer, with Mika guarding and watching over him. Shinoa and the others offered to take turns watching Yuu but Mika insisted that he was best suited for the task since he was the only one remotely strong enough to restrain Yuu if he managed to break his chains.

Not to mention that he also felt it was best if the villagers saw as little of him as possible, being a vampire and all.

So far, Mika, Shinoa, and the others had seen little progress, which worried them because it was dangerous for the group to move on while Yuichiro was still unstable. And on top of that, they knew it would only be a matter of time before their pursuers tracked them down; they were already lucky they had been able to hide for as long as they have. Not only were they hunted by Hiragis and Japanese Imperial Demon Army, but also the most powerful vampire progenitors as well.

After what happened at Nagoya, Mika had no doubt that leaders on both sides of the war would love to get their hands on Yuu for the power housed within his body, a power that even he could not fully control. Which made it all the more frightening and dangerous. Mika just knew that if his brother were to fall into the hands of the wrong people, there would be a disaster the likes of which the world has never seen and unlike the epidemic of eight years ago, there would be no survivors this time.

And it was all Mika's fault. Even if the others as well as Yuu himself told him otherwise, Mikaela Hyakuya knew the truth. If he had not fallen for Ferid Bathory's trap all those years ago, the Demon Army, or more specifically, Guren Ichinose, Yuu's former guardian, would have never have been able to get a hold of him to exploit his powers in the first place. Sure, life in Sanguinem was tough, but if Mika had planned things more carefully, they might have found another way to escape without getting everybody killed and Mika himself might never have been changed into a vampire.

As he thought this over, the young blond vampire scoffed at his own naiveté. Who was he kidding? Even if he, Yuu, and the others had managed to get away from Ferid and escape to the outside, they would have never been able to survive on their own for long anyway. In fact, they all would have died a slow and agonizing death from either disease, starvation, or both. Their vampire captors might have treated them as livestock, but at least they were fed, clothed, housed, and given medical care when needed.

Mika shook his head as he turned on the lamp next to his night table and went into the bathroom where he planned to take a shower before heading to bed. He knew there was no point in having these thoughts now. What's done was done. He could only pray that Akane and his other brothers and sisters who did not survive his failed escape plan would forgive him for sending them to their untimely deaths. If he were still human, he would at least have the hope of meeting them in the afterlife after he died to beg their forgiveness, but looking into the mirror, Mika knew he would be denied even that.

After becoming a vampire nearly five years ago, he hardly ever looked at himself in the mirror, especially after drinking his brother's blood and becoming a complete vampire. Because he knew that no matter how often he saw his reflection, he would never like it or get used to it regardless of how handsome others may find him, especially with his fangs, pointed ears, and new ruby-red eyes. They were a part of his own body and even he could hardly bear to look at them, for they were a painful reminder of what he was and may forever be.

A vampire. An ageless, immortal vampire forever thirsting for blood.

Unless…

He could become human again.

And that hope, given to him by Yuichiro, was his new reason to live.

A/N: Ok, I'm going to cut this snippit off here and work on the next. Let me know what you think!