❛ 𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐎 𝐔𝐒 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 ❜ ━━━ (𝗶. 𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗻)

二十 [N i - J ū]

[a/n : from here on, the story will follow the manga. if you have not read the manga and do not wish to see spoilers, i recommend you to stop reading and hopefully read the manga first]

I opened my eyes, the white ceiling first greeting me. I felt the soft mattress under me as I slowly looked around.

Laughter.

Children's laughter was what I heard. I slowly sat up, groaning a little at the pounding in my head. I looked to the side and saw my sword in its sheath. I stood up, trying to balance myself after 3 months of immobility.

I stumbled a little and quickly held onto the wall. I reached for my sword and used it as a walking stick. I walked to the door, opening it and was met by a hallway. No one was in the house as I couldn't detect anyone's presence.

I walked towards the door where I could hear the children's laughter the most. I could hear the chopping of wood and people talking. I slid open the door and saw it was Kimizuki who was chopping the wood. Narumi stood at the front, watching the children and beside him was Shinoa who was carrying laundry.

"You're awake." I looked to my right and saw Mika.

"Yeah," I said and smiled.

I heard a basket drop and immediately looked towards it. The basket that contained the laundry had fallen. Fortunately, none of the clothes in it got dirty. I looked up and saw Shinoa looking at me. Her eyes were wide as I could see tears forming.

"(Y-Y/n)!" She shouted before running to me.

I opened my arms wide for her to hug me. I stumbled back a little when she ran to me. I hugged her back as one of my hands were at her head, stroking it with love.

"I'm back Shinoa," I whispered and she started crying.

"I-I was so worried..!" I shushed her like I would when we were younger.

"I'm okay. You won't have to worry anymore." She looked up at me and I wiped her tears away.

"Promise?"

"I promise." Suddenly, we heard shouting.

"Let me go! Unchain me right now! I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!"

That voice...

"Yuu?" I asked and Shinoa nodded her head.

"Every day, Yuu goes back and forth between his human form and his demon form. It gets longer as the days pass by."

Not long after, the shouting stopped and Shinoa knocks on the door.

"It's been exactly three hours since the demon transformation took effect. Is Yuu awake now?" She asks and enters the room where Yuu and Mika were in.

"Yo Shinoa! I just woke up." Yuu answered and I smiled, knowing he was okay now.

"Well, good morning then."

"G'morning."

"By the way, it has been three days since you last drank any blood, Mika. You will be needing more blood soon correct?" Shinoa asked.

"So? I never asked you to be my keeper--"

"If you need some, you can just go ahead and drink mine," Yuu said and I could practically see the smile on his face.

"No, no. You are already in a weak enough condition Yuu-san. I took the liberty of asking everyone to contribute a little. Not sure if you'll like it though..."

I smiled and walked away from them as I sat down at the cliff near the house. I looked down at the ocean, seeing how it sparkled in the daylight.

Three months since the battle.

How much has changed since then? How was Shinya? Was he okay back at the JIDA? Was he being held up by Kureto? Was he...still talking to Guren? Did he now have hatred towards Guren for killing me?

"Sergeant Shinoa! You have to save us! Monsters are attacking again!" I quickly stood up as I walked back to the house.

Everyone was present, except for Narumi whom I presumed was out getting resources. I stand next to Shinoa and Yuu as I spotted seven Horsemen of the Apocalypse. A nice amount for each of us to get a kill.

"Okay, let's do this," Shinoa said and on cue, we all ran towards one of the Horsemen's.

"Destroy once more, Shiraki," I said as I slashed the Horsemen's legs, the swirls appearing and killed it off.

When I looked back, everyone had killed each of the Horsemen too. Afterwards, the villagers came up and thanked us.

"We can't thank you enough..! Ever since you came here, we can all sleep feeling so much safer."

"No, no, it's nothing. We're very grateful that you are kind enough to share your food supplies with us. It's the least we can do." Shinoa said.

"Speaking of food supplies, Narumi should be off foraging as we speak," Shinoa informed.

"Ah. No wonder why I haven't seen him." Yuu said and then someone came from behind him.

"The world doesn't stop turning just because you have to go take a power nap as a demon y'know." I looked at the figure and saw it was Narumi.

"Ah! Hey Narumi, where did you go?"

"Two kilometres southwest. Found a supermarket that had some canned goods and fruit seeds. I'll make a second trip later." He said and then passed one of the canned goods to Kimizuki.

"How about some thanks? I found a feast for us today." The villagers grew excited at the mention of a feast.

Narumi then distributed each person a canned good, though there were enough for people to have seconds or thirds. I ate one of them and I must say, they are quite good.

"Sergeant Shinoa, who is this? I've never seen her before the past three months." A lady asked as she stood in front of me and Shinoa.

"This is my sister, (Y/n). She was in a coma and just woke up today." I looked at the lady and smiled.

"Hello, I'm (Y/n). Nice to meet you." She smiled back as she bowed.

"Same here. I must say that you seemed to battle the monsters with more ease than Sergeant Shinoa." I blushed as I sheepishly smiled.

"Is that so?" I asked and laughed a little.

"My sister is the most powerful one here. She can easily take down 10 of those monsters in a second." Shinoa boasted.

"Wow, I'm very glad to have someone like you to help us protect the village." The lady said.

"Haha, thank you." I bowed to her and smiled again. She then bid goodbye as she needed to attend to her family.

"See? It feels nice to be a hero right?" Shinoa asked and I looked at her.

"It does." She smiled and took my hand.

"Let's go back to the others."

It really doesn't feel like anything's changed, huh?