Never Useless

"Remember, never let your guard down, especially at this close a range, Yoichi!" Shiho Kimizuki cried as he took a quick swipe at the smaller boy with one of his twin swords.

Yoichi Satome quickly blocked the attack with his bow and, withdrawing a short sword from his own belt with his other hand, plunged it into the gut of his sparring partner with such force he thought his wrist would break. Kimizuki crumpled to the ground like a wilted lily, making sure to let go of one of his swords and place his arm and palm of his hand flat against the ground as well as tucking his chin closer to his chest to avoid hitting his head, a technique called 'slapping out' that he learned while still in training for the Demon Army.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, the pink-haired youth smiled at his younger comrade and 'pupil'.

"You did great, Yoichi. How about we call it a day?" he asked as he pulled up his uniform jacket to reveal a shirt of chain mail beneath that he had obtained from one of the villagers.

The wound from Yoichi's sword was only shallow, he'd live. Were it not for that simple piece of armor, his partner would have easily disemboweled him.

Yoichi smiled as he offered a hand to help his older comrade up. "Sure, if you say so. Though if you'd like, I can go on a little longer."

Kimizuki shook his head before taking Yoichi's hand "Nah, we've already been at this for like three hours already. We better head back soon if we want to make it in time for dinner or Yuu might end up eating our portions too; that guy has a monstrous appetite."

Yoichi laughed. "I'd try not to let him hear that if I were you. You don't want to speed up his demon transformation, do you?"

Upon the mention of Yuu's struggle with his inner demon, Kimizuki frowned for a brief moment before managing a smile, but not before Yoichi realized his mistake.

"Sorry, bad joke" he apologized.

Yoichi knew their current situation was no laughing matter and was relieved that there was no one else around to hear him other than his sparring partner, who had taken it upon himself to train Yoichi to hold his own in melee combat in case an enemy soldier ever happened to get past his other squad mates and attack him at close range where his bow might not be as useful.

Yoichi assured Kimizuki that his bow could still be used as a weapon even at close range and without arrows, but had to agree with him that it would not be as effective a weapon as a sword. So he gave in to Kimizuki's suggestion to train him in melee combat. Though he was still nowhere near as good as Yuu, Mika, or Kimizuki himself, Yoichi was vastly improving with all the effort he had put into his training.

Since his specialty was long-distance fighting, Yoichi knew he was more useful as a sniper, so his only goal with the sword was to be able to defend himself should the situation ever demand it. Every day after they had finished the work the villagers asked of them, Kimizuki and Yoichi would meet in the forest behind the village for their sparring session that lasted for however much time they could spare before dinner.

"It's all right, I know you didn't mean it like that", Kimizuki replied. "How about yourself? Have you gotten comfortable with the blade yet? I made sure to get the lightest and strongest one the village weaponsmith had available."

Yoichi swiped his sword through the empty air and nodded before using a cloth to clean off his partner's blood from the blade. The sword Kimizuki bought for him was short, only half the length of the ones used by Yuichiro and Mikaela, but still good enough to serve his purpose since he only intended to use it on the defensive, not offensive like the other two.

"Yes, I think I have; thank you so much for buying and teaching me how to use it."

Kimizuki smiled and gently patted the younger boy on the back.

"I hope you will never have to use it, but it never hurts to be prepared."

"I know what you mean. If I had your strength, or Yuu's or Mika's, I'd have become a swordsman myself. But my only talent is sniping; I wish I could be more useful."

As he said this, Yoichi frowned. He hated it that he was not as physically strong as his other squad mates and could only support them from the back. Though he did not say it, Kimizuki knew what he was thinking. Gently taking his friend by the shoulders, he looked straight into Yoichi's olive-green eyes.

"You are neither weak nor useless, Yoichi. An effective squad and army needs people of all talents. Shinya Hiragi is not a close-range fighter either, yet he managed to help us turn the tide of Battle at Shinjuku, remember? And if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been able to ambush and take down that creepy bastard, Lucal Wesker, as well. So please don't ever think that you are weak or useless; you are anything but. You're the only one in the squad with your talents, and we need them. Nobody can replace you."

Yoichi smiled at his friend's words of reassurance. His frail appearance and gentle nature had made others, including Kimizuki, doubt his ability to perform on the battlefield at first. But the brunet boy had proven himself many times over. His experiences at the battles of Shinjuku and Nagoya had made him more confident and the physical labor, hunting, and sparring he had engaged in during these last few months at the village have made him physically stronger as well.

If one were to spare a moment to look closely, he or she could see that Yoichi's shoulders have become broader, his arms and legs more defined with sparring and the constant use of his bow for hunting monsters as well as animals for food; his sword training had also sharpened his reflexes. Yoichi had become almost a master at archery and could hit up to dozens of targets on end with astounding accuracy, something that no one else in their squad was able to do.

In fact, Yoichi was likely second only to Shinya Hiragi himself as the best sniper in the entire Moon Demon Company.

"Thanks, Kimizuku, that makes me feel a lot better."

"I'm not saying this just to make you feel better, Yoichi, I really mean it. We already have enough swordsmen in the squad; you need to do what you're best at, and your sniping skills are invaluable to our goal. Which, at this moment, is to protect Yuichiro."

"You're right. We all have something that we do best, and we have to use them to help each other. Without that kind of teamwork, we'd never have any fighting chance against the vampires. Though it does sound strange for me to say that considering that we have one fighting on our side now."

Kimizuki released Yoichi's shoulders and frowned at the mention of their new vampire companion whom they first met on the opposite side of the battlefield.

"Speaking of which, do you really think we can trust that blond vamp, Yoichi?"

Yoichi laughed. "You know, that 'blond vamp' as you like to call him does have a name. It's Mikaela Hyakuya and he is Yuichiro's brother. They may not be related by blood, but you know what I mean. I trust him with Yuu's safety and well-being more than I would most humans."

"Mikaela Hyakuya…" Kimizuki repeated, the name still leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

In the last three months, he had spoken very little with the brother of Yuichiro as he had not yet gotten over their last unpleasant encounter when Mika had given him a head-butt nearly hard enough to crack his skull after he had refused to comply with the vampire's demand to hand over the unconscious Yuu.

"Asides from Yuu, he seems to be a bit more open with Shinoa and yourself. How is he? What do you make of him?"

"Well, all I know about his past is from what Yuu had told me. They've both had it pretty rough and I can understand why Mika is leery of humans considering what the Demon Army did to Yuu. Not that I blame him after what Kureto Hiragi did at Nagoya; he didn't hesitate to sacrifice his own soldiers to revive the Seraph of the End. As for Mika himself, he really isn't bad once you get to know him. I believe his heart is in the right place; he won't betray us, Kimizuki."

The pink-haired boy sighed. "I hope you're right, Yoichi; I sure wish I had your optimism and faith. You always try to see the good in people no matter what. Well, we better start heading back; it's starting to get dark."

"Right. How's your wound? I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"

Kimizuki laughed. "Nah, it's just a scratch, nothing to get worked up over; I've had worse."

"I see. Let's get going then."

A/N: Ok, 5th snippit done. I hope you enjoyed this one; I apologize for the unexciting sparring part since I don't write fight scenes that well. I'll be working on a Mika/Yuu snippet next! Please look forward to it!"