"Hey, guys! Let's watch and see how good these rookies really are." Mr. Trident laughs, as others tune in to witness the punishment.
Guren and Yu clash swords, several times, amazing the spectators as they comment various things.
"Whoa... the rookie is holding his own against the Lt. Colonel."
"Who the heck is that kid?"
As Guren and Yu cross, they converse to no surprise.
"Oho! You've improved." Guren laughs.
"You bet I have! This time, I'm gonna win!!" Yu chuckles, dodging a close hit.
Unable to dodge the next hit, I step in, leaving the Colonel to Shinoa and Blondie.
I raise my Katanas, but Guren sticks a paper to one of them.
"...Huh? Wait, what is this?!" I ask, trying to pry it off.
"It's an explosion ward! I'll disenchant it!" Shinoa says, briefly however, before she can hurry over to help, Colonel Jujo intercepts.
"I think not." A single step from her causes Shinoa to jump back to avoid backlash.
"Good. Yu, stand down or I blow (N/n) up." Guren threatens.
"Fi-"
"Then blow me up! You can't and you won't, Guren." I smirk, charging at him.
"I thought you'd do this. Of course I can't." Guren leans to the side to reveal Shinya waiting with his gun ready to fire.
"Well, shit..." I scoff.
"I'm going to lay down a barrage. Think you can dodge every bullet?" Shinya inquires before shooting the first three 'bullets'.
I throw my Katanas at it, dispelling them, and leave Guren to Yuu.
I get into close take of Shinya and kick him, sending him at a decent distance into a bush.
The spectators stare, amazed at our skill,
"There no way they're rookies, right?"
"How is that girl that good?"
"She's seriously holding her own against a Hiragi!"
Turning around, I see Guren knock Yu out of the way and enter Shinoa's circle.
"Look. I've breached your line. It's over. All your friends are dead." Guren says, leaning to attack the others.
"Yikes! Lt. Colonel!!" Blondie yelps, before being incapacitated from behind by Guren.
I race over to cover Yoichi, since he has a long-range skill.
"Why... You!!" Shinoa rushes past Colonel Jujo to my surprise, and sends herself to a Gurenified death.
"Bad decision, Shinoa. The leader should never square off against an opponent they can't beat." Guren sighs.
Shinoa loses Shi, freezing, but Yoichi and Saltymizuki sneak up behind Guren. I come in from the front, leaving nowhere to escape.
"As for you two... you're way too slow."
I slash my Katanas against Guren, letting him catch them.
"Is this some kind of ploy because it's pretty stupi-"
I let go of my katanas and kick him, forcing Guren to drop his and my own weapons to hold me in place.
"Huh? A self-sacrifice, So these two can beat me? Horrible idea." Guren examines.
"As long as it works." I glare.
Youchi fires his arrows, and Saltymizuki brings his swords down.
Guren, on the other hand, ducks to dodge Saltymizuki and throws me at the arrows, forcing Yoichi to dispel them.
"I could've killed Shinoa with my first strike. Mitsuba was already incapacitated. In other words, they were easy kills. Plus, you lost your commander. That means your squad is done." Guren accesses us.
"Ow... Why do you throw me every time?" I growl, helping Blondie get on her feet.
"Because it's fun. Now, you have four black demon wielders on your team. What the hell was that? You showed very little teamwork. The vampire Nobles we'll be facing are stronger than the three of us. How do you expect to fight them? Or do you plan on standing there, cracking snarky jokes while you die?" Guren responds, particularly looking at me when saying that last line.
Everyone looks defeated and depressed, reflecting on their mistakes and failures.
I look to Yu to see him handling it...?
"Yu, are you attempting to think?" I ask, looking at his expression as he makes strange 'Hrmmmm?' noises.
"Wha? Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Yu questions.
I watch as Shinya climbs out of a bush and looks at me, particularly annoyed, while trying to get leaves off his uniform.
I look back and mouth 'I enjoyed throwing you into a bush.'
Colonel Jujo grabs him by the collar to stop an attempted second degree murder.
"Now, then. These are our new rookies, everyone! All of them are 16! Four of them possess black demon weapons. But as you saw, they're all just kids! Watch over them, okay?" Guren announces, patting my head, purposefully messing up my hair.
The gossip begins.
"Whoa, four of them are have black demons?"
"Yeah, But if they can't work in tandem, they're useless to us."
"I heard one of them is going to be leading the charge into town hall."
"Man, Lt. Colonel sure is good." Someone from Mr. Trident's squad comments.
"Sixteen...? They said they were 22!" Mr. Trident yells at us. I slowly back away.
"Told you it was a dumb lie."
"Ahaha..."
"Hey, Guren! Question!" Yu puts his hand up, as if in school.
"Huh? What is it?" Guren asks, turning away from the soldiers.
"How'd you do that? It was six on three. But we still lost." Yu asks.
"Easy. You're all dumb kids." Guren jokes.
"That's not what I mean!" Yu agues back.
"My, my! You're being a good sport about this." Shinya teases.
"Yuu, it's simple. Shinya's first shot came at us from behind, which he could only use once, but it confused us enough, splitting up our formation and creating vulnerability." I analyse.
"Wait, how did you know I could only use it once?" Shinya asks.
"Easy. You had several opportunities to use it again, but you didn't. That lead to you ending up in a bush." I smile.
"Hey! You really are taking after Guren, aren't you!" Shinya whines, like a child.
"Ahah, however..." Shinoa clenches her fists, "Their aim was to have Lt. Colonel Guren break through our line. Both Colonel Jujo And Major General Hiragi were put in support roles... and all of their offence power was focused on removing our front-line defenders, Yu and (N/n). Once they were taken from the equation, then-"
"No. There was a way to prevent further casualties. You were utterly incompetent as a squad leader. When fighting vampires... if your formation is broken, withdraw immediately. As everyone knows, vampires are much stronger than us. That is why we form squads in the first place." Colonel Jujo interrupts with her evaluation.
"Wow! You guys put more thought into this than I expected." Yu stands amazed at the existence of brain power.
"The only one who doesn't think is you, Yu." Guren insults.
"Hrrrrrm!!" Yu makes that annoying sound again.
"What else don't you understand?" I ask.
"No, no. I understand. And we lost, so there's no helping that now. I was just trying to think of what tactics to use next time... That's all." Yu explains.
Everyone stays silent until Guren walks up to Yu and pats his head.
"...Dwah?! What was that for?!" Yu tries to pry Guren away.
"Nothing."
"Yeah, right." I sneer.
"Alright, the rookies have had their lesson... so it's time we head off to kill some vampire nobles."
Guren leaves, leaving us to relax, but not for long.
"Yu. Man up and take responsibility." Saltymizuki whispers.
"Huh? For what?" Yu asks.
"Hey there! So you guys lost, eh? That's too bad." Mr. Trident greets, attempting to anger us.
"From what I saw, you have zero teamwork. Are you really twenty? You weren't lying about your age, were you?" He continues.
Yu stares at him, letting the silence sink in.
"...Um... Who are you, again?" Yu asks, making me burst out in laughter.
"You can't be serious!!" He refutes, making me laugh harder.
"Wait, aren't you Mr. Trident?" I tease.
"Oh, is that his name? Trident is really weird for a name." Yu comments.
"I'm Narumi! Makoto Narumi!! We got into a fight just a few minutes ago! It was about who's older! Don't you remember!" He rants.
"Oh, wait! Yeah! You're that guy! The one with the limp-fish handshake!" Yu points.
"Yeah, now I remember! You have such weak grip strength~!" I snicker.
"How about you try remembering my name?!"
Even Saltymizuki snickers from the fun of the encounter.
"That's it! I've had enough of your crap! It's time I made it clear to you who's on top!" He brings out the trident, making Saltymizuki and I die of laughter.
"Sure, bring it on! This time, we'll use teamwork and wi-"
Before Yu can get us into another fight, I knock his head in the hopes of making a scientific discovery that Yu may have the possibility of having a brain.
"You idiot! You want the Lt. Colonel mad at us again?" Blondie scolds.
"We're supposed to work with Sergeant Narumi's squad!" Saltymizuki adds.
"...I'm sorry. That's just the way he is." Shinoa apologises.
"And you are?" He asks.
"Haha. Learn names, how about that?" I imitate his earlier line.
Blondie shuts me up before I start a fight in place of Yu.
"Shinoa Hiragi. I'm the squad leader. I apologise for not being available to greet you earlier... Sergeant Makoto Narumi." Shinoa introduces herself.
"Hiragi... Well, at least you have manners. But your squad has major discipline problems. Tardiness. Back talk..." He criticises.
"I know. I'm very sorry." Shinoa apologises, ticking off me and Yu.
"Shinoa~, apologies aren't necessary. Actually, he's basically Poseidon, so-"
"Shut up!" Saltymizuki covers my mouth before I can continue.
"Yeah!! You don't have to apologise to him! He's just some limp fish-" Yu tries to continue although, you guessed right, he was 'muted'.
"Oh well. They say you're just 16. It makes sense that brats like you two can't shut up and be polite. But relax, your 19-year-old elders are here to teach you how to behave properly." Mr. Trident says, grabbing both our faces.
"Want me to bite your hand off? I've done it before to someone else." I glare at him, causing him to take his hand off us immediately.
Yu growls, holding me close as I stare at him.
Over-protective much? Well, I guess it can't be helped.
"Let's begin the move to Nagoya. Don't forget to pack your diapers... babies." He comments, leaving with his squad.
"Don't forget to pack some water, so you can breath, Poseidon." I tease.
He looks back, muttering something rude.
As soon as he's out of ear-shot, Yuu grits his teeth and yells his frustration about Mr. Trident.
Once he's done, Shinoa whispers to me,
"Can you please hush Yu, (N/n)?"
"It would be a great pleasure." I smirk, already knocking him down.
"He is still conscious, right?" Shinoa asks, worried.
"Of course, you want him to hear what you'd like to say, right?"
"Yes, it's painfully obvious, but we need to sharpen up. And quickly. Shibuya. Shinjuku. Ikebukuro. Outside of those human cities... lies a world teeming with monsters. We could be killed at any moment." Shinoa scolds, nicely.
"Yes. Not only that, we're going to kill Vampire Nobles, which requires a lot of determination. We need to hammer our teamwork." Blondie pitches in.
"Nice high horse. It was you three that pissed off the Lt. Colonel in the first place." Saltymizuki refers to Blondie, Shinoa and I.
"Still. That was a good learning experience." Yu smiles, looking optimistic.
"We'll get stronger and have more learning experiences. Maybe some will leave us a little lost, but it's fine in the end if we're able to pick up information and experience." I grin, running ahead.
"Why do you sound so wise? Are you really 22?" Yu asks, examining me up close.
"Um, well. It's, uh, complicated, ahah?" I stumble on my words.
"Stay away from me." Saltymizuki says, holding Yoichi close.
"By the way, about our formations..." Yu begins to say, but interrupted by a loud call.
"It's time! All squads, form up into your groups and move out for Nagoya. We hereby commence this vampire noble extermination mission!"
"Well, I need to get to my group... Good luck! I'll see you guys on the other side, ahah!" I smile, before leaving for my assigned group.
I still don't understand why I was assigned as an acting Captain to kill three nobles in the town hall... but if Guren believes I need to be se... huh?
I'm being separated from the ones I trust... Guren, I hope you're not planning anything... or I'll kill you myself...!
•Unknown Location•
•Mika's POV•
Solitude.
I walk down the ostracised streets, following the commands set to me.
"Yeeek!! Everyone, run!! Vampires are here!!"
A pitched scream comes from my right as a small girl comes running towards my direction while looking behind her.
"Nooo!! Please don't kill me!!"
One of the vampires comes crashing down, swiftly chasing the girl, who's screaming with tears in her eyes.
She trips, inevitably getting caught.
"Hold still. We don't kill livestock. We just want a little of your blood." He chuckles, maliciously taking a bite of her neck.
Horrible, crushing solitude.
The urge tries to take over, trying to consume my mind into drinking it.
Blood. I want blood. That thought... That need... means I'm no longer human.
The violet-haired vampire (Cover Image) tosses the unconscious girl and walks towards me.
"Mmm! Delicious! Man, nothing beats drinking blood straight from the source." He dreamily sighs.
"I thought you said we don't kill livestock... Lacus Welt." I call out.
"Huh?" He wipes the sneered blood from his lips, still leaving most of it, "Oh, did I? Oops. Drinking blood feels so good that I always forget to stop before they're dead. Oh well. What's one human matter?"
Soon, lower-ranked vampires gather, ready to take away the children we've gathered.
"By the way, aren't you going to drink?" Lacus asks, "City guards like us only get to drink from the source when we're outside."
"I don't need any." I answer, briefly.
"Sheesh. You have a teeny appetite."
"What is it?" One of the others appears out of nowhere.
"Oh, René." Lacus acknowledges, "Mika was just saying how he wasn't going to drink any blood."
"Why?" René asks.
"Who knows?" Lacus jokes.
Fed up of the conversation, I begin to walk away.
"Well, that's fine. Mikaela, just do your job." René orders.
«•»
We arrive at the choppers, ready to leave as we load the children onto it.
"We're here to herd livestock... and present them to the nobles in Nagoya." René reminds us.
I look at an open chopper, seeing kids beg for help, for mercy...
It reminds me of Yu and (N/n)...
The feeling of thirst from before comes back, always at the worst times.
"You're not going to take even a sip? There are lot of nobles loving in Nagoya... and I hear they have different laws for their domains. I doubt we'll be free to drink." Lacus informs.
Stumbling on my words, I get out a sentence,
"I'm not... interested in human blood."
"Huh? That can't be right. So what do you have an interest in, then?"
I walk away, leaving the question unanswered.
It's because it's... a lie.
I lied. I want blood. My whole body hurts... because I crave it so badly. But I've held back this long.
I take or one of the vials with Krul's blood and swallow it.
"Ngh..." I throw the glass vial, shattering it.
Damn it. It's not working. Krul's blood isn't enough to stem the craving anymore.
"Blood... Human blood..."
I want human blood!
Having been zoned out of the world, I look up at the sound of footsteps.
Small footsteps belonging to children being escorted by vampires to the chopper.
My sense go haywire, crazy, uncontrollable. All go the sensation I need of blood.
A young girl in the group looks back at me, making me snap...
I lunges forward, appearing in front of her in a split second and tackling her to the ground, senselessly.
"Oh, hey. So you're going to drink after all."
Before I can bare my fangs into her... a voice brings me back to my terrified senses.
"If you're going to drink, be quick." The escort sighs, "Our team has collected its quota of humans. We need to take them to Nagoya."
The girl takes the chance to run from my grip as I let her go while composing myself.
She cries out to her brother's safe hold.
Siblings, who have each other. A brother and a sister.
(N/n)...
"Send the chopper up." I command the escort.
"Aren't you going to drink?" He asks.
"No. I don't need any."
"Right. Close the hatch! We're taking off!" The vampire announces, leaving with the choppers full of children.
I'm not human anymore.
"Okay. It's time we headed for Nagoya ourselves." René suggests.
But... even if I'm not... until I save Yuu and (N/n) from those humans... at least until then... I will remain human.
(2776 Words)