Everyone got in their respective cars. Guren and his squad got in the car they had arrived in. The Shinoa squad in Lor Crowley's car. Mika in Lizzy's car. The car that had somehow fit in one of her three planes. It was white and considerably nicer than the others. She took pride in her car. She took pride in everything about herself, and Mika couldn't help admiring that. He was glad he'd met her. He was glad she was there. He was glad she was by his side.
***
"So, what's going on with you and Yuu?" Lizzy asked suddenly.
They had been driving in silence for almost an hour. A comfortable silence just for them. It had always been comfortable with Lizzy. It was never awkward between them. They were honest with each other in a way they could never be with other people.
"He made a choice," Mika said matter-of-factly.
"What kind of choice?" Lizzy asked nonchalantly.
"A choice that makes my death pointless."
"You made a point of dying?" she asked raising an eyebrow but not looking away from the empty road. The only other cars belonged to Guren and Lord Crowley. She took notice of how beaten Guren's looked. Lord Crowley's was more presentable, but it didn't shine the way hers did.
"You know what I mean." Mika looked out the window. Or out where the window would have been, had the convertible had the roof up. Which it rarely did. Lizzy liked the wind blowing in her silky hair.
"You mean that you died to make a point of him living?" she asked.
"That makes no sense."
"Exactly."
Mika rolled his eyes. "What I mean is that I laid there dying so that he could run away and live."
"And you regret that?"
"No."
"Then what's the problem?" she asked, taking a sip through a straw from a cup Mika hadn't noticed was in the cupholder.
"The problem is that he's choosing to just die now! Like what the hell was the point of me becoming a vampire then? He was supposed to live, Lizzy. I died for him to live," he emphasized. "And what is that?"
"Love is supposed to be unconditional, Mika. And it's blood, want some?" She offered him the cup.
He already knew it was blood. The cup was clear, meaning he could clearly see the red of the liquid inside it. He took it. "I know, Lizzy but... ugh!" He took a frustrated sip of the blood. It didn't taste good, but it quenched the thirst a bit.
"It still hurts," Lizzy said what Mika hadn't.
"Yeah. And it just pisses me off that he doesn't fucking care," he put the cup back in the cupholder with a little more force than was necessary.
"I'm sure that's not true," she nodded. "But tell me exactly what happened."
"I already told you," Mika looked at her confused.
"You told me how you feel and why. I want to know what you did."
"What I did?" he repeated. He turned and looked at her, feeling insulted by her question.
"Yeah," she said. She turned to look at him with an expecting raise of her eyebrows. Waiting for him to answer.
"I didn't do anything!" Mika yelled his answer in frustration. "He's the one that-"
She cut him off, "Mika, just tell me how things happened."
Mika rolled his eyes again and sighed. "They need him for the experiment that will supposedly bring humanity back. But it's dangerous. He could die, Lizzy. And he's just fine with it," he explained.
"I doubt he's fine with it."
"Well, he's not doing anything about it, Lizzy. He just agreed. Just like that. 'Hey, Yuu, we need you to maybe die in order to maybe save humanity.' 'Ok, cool. Let's do it.' Pretty much how it happened." Mika made sure to use a mocking tone in his made-up dialogue.
"I don't know, it feels like you may be paraphrasing," Lizzy smiled, looking at the road again.
Mika chose not to answer.
After a couple of minutes, Lizzy spoke again. "So, what did you do about it?"
"What do you mean what did I do? I can't do anything about it."
"I mean did you say something? Tell him how you felt?"
"Yeah. Angrily, but yeah," Mika muttered. "I made some good points," he said more clearly.
"I'm sure you did."
She paused and glanced at him. He wasn't looking at her. He was leaning his elbow on the car door and resting his head against his hand, looking straight ahead. At the road, at the two other cars, at the few in between trees, she wouldn't guess which.
"And he still chose the experiment over you?" she continued.
"Pretty much," heconfirmed.
"Pretty much?"
"Yeah."
"Explain 'pretty much,'" she commanded.
"He decided to do the experiment, despite me asking him not to, so we broke up," Mika summarized.
"We? Or you?" Lizzy asked, raising her eyebrows again as she looked at the road ahead.
"What difference does it make?"
"Well, a 'we' would be something like... 'We have different views; it may be best if we break up. I agree, we can't see eye to eye, so it's best we go our separate ways.' A you would be, 'Choose me over the world or we're done,'" she clarified.
"That's not fair," Mika argued.
"It is fair. It's what you said Mika. You gave him an ultimatum right there on the spot, and now you're pissed that he didn't say 'You're right, Mika. I love you, let's run away together and I'll just let my new friends die.'"
Mika shrugged, "I would've also taken 'I can't Guren, I won't lose Mika again.'"
"OHHH!" Lizzy yelled, unexpectedly, sounding like she had just made a huge discovery.
"What!?" Mika screamed, justifiably startled.
"Oh, wow," she said more calmly, but with a surprised laugh.
"'Oh, wow' what?!" Mika demanded.
"So that's what this is about!" she exclaimed.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your ego can't take the fact that Yuu sided with that Guren guy," she concluded with another laugh.
"That's not true!" Mika tried to defend himself. "My points were-"
"Valid." Lizzy interrupted him again. "Your points were very valid, and understandably upsetting. But come on, Mika!" She couldn't help the entertainment showing on her face. "Admit it! They're secondary to the blow your ego received when Yuu sided with Guren!"
"That's not true," he denied through his teeth.
"Mika," she turned to look at him with a roll of her eyes.
"No, you're being ridiculous."
"You know that I'm not."
"Let it go, Lizzy." It sounded like a warning, which in turn just made Lizzy smile. They both knew she was right.
She laughed her beautifully silvery laugh, "Fine."
***
Two more hours passed. Mika was now driving. They figured it fair to take turns.
"We're almost there," Lizzy spoke. "See the weirdly straight red-ish smoke? That's what it looks like when a vampire is burning."
"Damn... Is it bad I'm enjoying the idea of that being Ferid?" Mika chuckled.
"Be fun to see," Lizzy laughed.
"They're slowing down," Mika pointed out. He was referring to the two other cars driving in front of them.
Lizzy's car could've very well beaten the other two cars, but they'd wordlessly agreed to stay behind the other two. It just felt more private. If they'd gone ahead, all eyes would have been on them. The tension would have been unbearable.
Unfortunately, tension wasn't unavoidable. Now that they were getting closer and closer to the scene, they could feel the tension from all three cars. Everyone was preparing themselves for what they would find. Who they would have to fight.
But most importantly, who would walk out alive.
Well, that conversation took a turn, huh? I actually didn't know where I was going with it, so I was surprised at what came out. So, let me know what you guys think, and as always, thanks for reading!